The Ghostbusters remake may have raised some eyebrows, but it helped Rian Johnson avoid a potential fallout involving Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The comically spooky franchise of Ghostbusters has always been greatly cherished by fans, save for the 2016 remake, of course, which nosedived toward destruction, both critically (for the most part) and commercially.

Ghostbusters (2016) | Sony Pictures

But there’s a silver lining, perhaps not for Paul Feig, but most certainly for Rian Johnson and his Star Wars entry.

What Happened to the Revamped Ghostbusters?

Things had not been looking pretty for the paranormal comedy from the get-go. When the very first trailer dropped, it turned social media into a blazing inferno of condemnation in its wake.

While the all-female cast contributed to the film’s fallout – courtesy of a deluge of sexist backlash – the lackluster storyline which seemed to fizzle out with every scene also played a considerable role in Ghostbusters‘ failure.

Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and, Leslie Jones in Ghostbusters | Sony Pictures

Meanwhile, the director felt that his work garnered mixed reviews (mostly bad ones) since it had become more political and less cinematic entertainment (via Vulture).

I think it kind of hampered us a little bit because the movie became so much of a cause. I think for some of our audience, they were like, ‘What the f**k? We don’t wanna go to a cause. We just wanna watch a f$ckin’ movie.’

The Melissa McCarthy-led outing struggled horridly at the box office, making merely $100 million in the international circuit against a budget of $144 million. And before you knew it, the movie became Sony’s Achilles heel, playing a scandalously big role in the company’s $1 billion write-down (via The Wrap).

But you know what they say about learning from (someone else’s) mistakes.

How Star Wars: The Last Jedi Avoided A Fate Like Ghostbusters

Not only was The Last Jedi a sweeping success, but it continues to be a Star Wars tour de force, sitting cozily at the top ranks as the second highest-grossing installment in the space opera franchise (via Box Office Mojo).

Granted, some fans, unlike the critics, found it difficult to like the Rian Johnson-helmed venture, but the overall reception was generally positive, including its box office numbers. The secret? The director’s impeccable vision and a delicate balance of the gender dynamics.

Johnson, 50, learned an imperative lesson from Ghostbusters‘ disastrous run, ensuring that he didn’t tip the scales on any one side. “I was gender conscious while writing,” the Knives Out filmmaker confessed (via IndieWire).

The same is evident in the film starring Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill, in the way every male character meshes, in some way or the other, with a female counterpart. Be that in a sibling interaction between Luke and Leia or when Rey battles it out with Kylo in the iconic lightsaber duel.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi can be streamed on Disney+ and Ghostbusters can be rented on Apple TV+.