www.joblo.com/godzilla-x-kong-roar-to-a-massive-75-million-opening-frozen-empire-collapses/?fbclid=IwAR0Ye0jmzAgOJaFSM7JBFJxvdCU9mY_8g1_at4I7pBj4kqo0Y6FKLnIFgDQ_aem_AauCtY45ruFANpV2e33JzLirUtVYIQbjsiYpZPC0KZFwxNbP6okfDj1Yeigh4DZH4WM
Looks like the film might not crack $100 million domestically, which would could put the Ghostbusters franchise on ice.
Or heck even closer to Halloween. Have it to balance out all the horror movies around that time. Why in March is just baffling, and I liked the movie too. Shame
So i checked the releases for may through July. May has next to nothing except another apes movie (and some original Ryan Reynolds’s movie)
May 2024 looks like it would have been better. June also might have been better as it has i think 1 Disney movie (already DOA). Not much else.
July is a no go due to despicable me and Deadpool. August is when you release movies because you want them to fail.
Release date doesn't matter, jeez. How come Dune 2 is making serious money? How come this new King Kong is making serious money with $75M opening weekend, just a couple weeks after FE debuted? Did the season suddenly change?
Stop with the excuses. The global interest and word of mouth just isn't there for FE.
Release dates have a lot to do with box office too. It's Easter weekend, it's notorious for a boost in sales, benefitting Godzilla x Kong which is also a vastly kid friendly movie. Dune is getting "serious money" because of word of mouth combined with the fact it's a spectacle in filmmaking, one could only imagine how it would do in November or even now on Easter weekend. It's not just release dates, but to say release dates don't matter is ridiculous.
Marketing really helps, I see dune and godzilla ads everywhere. I maybe see a couple of ads for ghostbusters here on reddit. Even then they're really bad ghostbusters ads, I had no idea it was out when it was if it wasn't for my partner telling me that it was released the weekend it was.
Well no. FE was poorly written. Interest was there on week one, because the embargo ensured that. Once the world found out what a convoluted mess it is, people didn’t have interest. The franchise needs to be put on ice to stop these terrible writers from ruining it any more than they already have.
May does have the new Mad Max movie though.
feb/march traditionally been the months where studios dump stuff they don’t have confidence in…GBs is tough, they got nothing for the younger generation to latch onto so you get that nostalgia pop & a quick fall
Movies don't do that big on Halloween. Notice no giant studio tentpole movies release at this time. No Transformers or MCU film. It's always saved for November/December, or earlier in August at the latest.
The reason is they've noticed Halloween has become very commercialized of holiday where adults do more planning for their own parties than for the kids. That's why even horror movies choose to release 1-2 weeks before Halloween. People are not watching movies on Halloween in movie theaters, they are out at parties or trick o treating.
I should have said around Halloween time, the build-up to the holiday would be perfect for Ghostbusters, like how Christmas movies get released in November. With the right marketing and no major competition it could be big.
You basically did. You said "closer to Halloween."
And I think you're right. Five Nights at Freddy's did very well last year and was released the week of Halloween.
Or watching all their favorite Horror movies at home.
But yeah I agree with your overall assessment.
Would be cool though if that did became a thing however, I miss going to see good horror movies in a theatre around Halloween. Last I really remember was The Grudge coming out fairly close to Halloween and a bunch of us went to go see it right around Halloween. It was a good time in the dorms afterwards everyone was trying to scare each other the rest of the night.
You mean, a release date just after the beginning of the year, and toys that go on clearance a month before that after being on shelves for 3 months isn't going to help a movie about ghosts that people dress up for on Halloween be successful?
They couldn't have even shoehorned St. Patrick's day in the plot like New Years and GB2? At least then people would watch it every year.
Seems like sabotage to me
They made it clear in 2016 what they want, and the fans are just in the way. I don't think anyone was listening, though.
I hear that. Fun fact; the Japanese title for this movie -ゴーストバスターズ／フローズン・サマー translates to Ghostbusters/Frozen Summer in English!
Someone somewhere must have been thinking along those same lines after seeing the first trailer!
If you watch the Japanese trailer they actually say Ghostbusters Frozen Summer at the end.
Yeah this really should have released sometime in September or October.
Since that would have put it on the 40th? Absolutely.
LAME EXCUSE.
Dune 2 came out not much earlier and is set for $670-$700M worldwide. A good movie is a good movie = box office legs and good word of mouth.
And Ghostbusters has more films than Dune to build a fanbase too.
Dune 2 has a bigger name behind it believe it or not, the hype for the sequel was huge. Ghostbusters is very middle of the pack hype.
Dune 2 has a bigger name behind it believe it or not
In 1984 Ghostbusters did the 2024 equivalent of $882,838,582.18. So I'm not sure I can agree with this argument.
They should’ve made a better movie.
Did you see it?
Yes.
“Did you see it?” says the guy who was 100% committed to loving it 2 years before he saw it.
Yeah, this really weird fucking attitude branwashed fans have where they think that something they love is so perfect that it's somehow impossible for anyone else who has seen that thing to have any criticisms about it.
It was supposed to come out last December.
However, there are still several countries it hasn't come out in and will for the next two months or so. Unfortunately, no China release.
Why in the world they didn't line it up with the 40th anniversary/Ghostbusters Day just baffles me. It even happens on a weekend this year (June 8) so it would have been perfect.
Big shame. Hope it does well internationally and with merchandise. Opening so close to Godzilla was also a mistake
That definitely took away most IMAX screens which Dune Part Two got extended on, then GvK:ANE comes out and takes most of them back the following week. Really hoping the Ghostbusters can pull out another win here.
I’m not sure why I’m really worried, since the team usually comes back to win after being down-and-out underdogs!
Imax wouldn't of saved this at all in anyway I'd bet word of mouth from those would be even worse too. Imagine going to see this movie in imax and there only be two pieces of action in the entire movie one of which is in the hell of claustrophobic firehouse.
I did see it in IMAX on March 21 and it was glorious!
I'll admit I like seeing movies in imax too I just saw Ex Machina in it during the A24 one night only event and that clearly wasn't filmed for Imax and it still looked good.
So far Nope is my favorite Imax film.
Merchandise here in the UK has been absolutely shocking! Not even all of our big cinema chains did anything!
I'm from the UK too. When Afterlife was releasing, I collected all the crisp packets, all the protein shake bottles, all the hasbro figures and all the pop figures. I also managed to get some cups from the cinema. For Frozen Empire, all the crisp packets and protein bottles are almost exactly the same so I haven't bothered, The Ecto1 is just a shitty repaint so I haven't bothered, the 4 other figures that were released are like gold dust and I haven't seen any for a decent price anywhere. The Ecto collection blind boxes don't exist at all in the UK and I have no interest in any of the pop figures this time. Also, the cinemas, at least the ones by me, had nothing this time.
What merchandise? They made like 4 things.
Yup. I’m a huge TV and movie car collector and have seen absolutely nothing for the updated Ecto. It’s disappointing honestly.
There's an ecto, a nutrona thrower, a set of 5POA figures, and those mini puft blind boxes. I think that's it.
They made a kids toy, which is just a lazy repaint of the afterlife ecto… so yeah they basically made nothing
Every Walmart and target near me has been totally barren aside for maybe an ecto or wand. Saw the blind boxes back when they first released, other than that empty pegs. Somebody is buying them.
I haven't seen any at my walmarts. But plenty at my local target. I did post some pictures a bit ago about it.
They dropped the ball with these sequels and merchandise. This could've been like the renewed TMNT craze where the shows/movie and the toy see a huge bump in sales.
The Spangler family are not cool to kids, and too boring for adults.
MCU's Groot, which says "Groot" ended up one of the most popular collectables for the series. Ghostbusters deals with the paranormal. It could've shown any new cute ghost character that would sell like hotcakes, but didn't do it.
It relied TOO much on nostalgia and they really need to move away from the Stay Puft characters and Slimer. Show people something new in the universe, dayum.
Hugging the OG movies for dear life is what killed this film series. So much wasted potential.
They certainly tried. The Mini-Pufts are a blatant Minions ripoff that were designed to have consumers buying multiple different versions. They failed, even at the height of Baby Yoda-mania. Then you have Muncher, the BB-8 of the Ghostbusters franchise, a character that only exists because collectors already have nearly 40 years of Slimer merch at home already. Then with FE they just gave up entirely, they were like yeah, Pukey, he fucking pukes, there’s a Funko Pop, what more do you want?
Your summary of all of them cracked me up, and so true. Also had no idea that ghost and the puking one actually had those merchandise names. That somehow makes me even more sad. The Sony desperation feels icky, like getting slimed.
Which is such a surprise, considering the whole movie felt geared towards merchandise opportunities.
They all just seem to be waiting to see how the movie does. Like Hasbro has already promised some kind of reveal of new merch but in reality they most likely have a guaranteed seller like another prop replica lined up and a bunch of pipeline reveals (which is where they’d literally show like a film still of Rudd to announce that they’re making a Grooberson or whatever) that can be totally scrapped in the event that the movie bombs.
For Afterlife, Hasbro made a 3.75" scale Ecto-1, and not a single figure to go with it. I'm still pissed about that.
There are the various movie theater merch (cups, popcorn buckets, etc), plenty of licensed clothes and shoes, plus what ever gets revealed by Hasbro later today at Wonder Con to add to those "4 things". I'm not saying it is a huge mechandising push like other franchises get, but there is surprising amount of Frozen Empire stuff out there for the doom and gloom you hear on reddit.
There doesn't seem to much stomach on the studio's part for mass merchandising anymore. The main reason Transformers lasted so many movies was insane toy profits they made. Once a movie only has it's box office to support it, things get dicey.
Transformers was always about the toys though. The whole point of the cartoon was to sell them.
Star Wars is a good example. You could see them scaling back the amount of figures they made for each of the sequels. Finn and Poe didnt even get toys from the last movie.
Yeah all these delay delay delay things didn't help. I get it for the 40th anniversary thing but it wasn't the right time. Should have been released on halloween. When exactly was everything done anyway?
Releasing it on Halloween would have been disastrous because theaters tend to want to get rid of holiday-themed movies ASAP once the holiday is over. And of course you can make a low-budget horror flick work under those circumstances but Ghostbusters ain’t that.
Ghostbusters vs King Kong and Godzilla you say?… More like it’s literally GB2 vs Batman 89 all over again in the box office 😂
Honey, Godzilla X Kong ain’t no Batman ‘89.
But it still took the top spot from Ghostbusters 😵💫
GxK is on track to a $75 million opening weekend. Compared to the $45 million for Frozen Empire.
Compared to $29 million for Ghostbusters 2 and $45 million for Batman 1989 they're actually pretty similar. Just not in terms of critical acclaim.
https://deadline.com/2024/03/box-office-godzilla-x-kong-the-new-empire-1235871440/
It’s Saturday at noon here in the east coast….they already have the full weekend figures?
Yes, they can model forecasts that are shockingly accurate. This was a fan-driven sequel with crappy reviews, it was always going to have a huge drop
Most theatrical releases do this nowadays. The amount of people going to the theater may be the lowest it has ever been.
I went last night to see FE for the first time and it was us 4 and a family of 3 who had a whole empty theater and decided to sit right behind us and talk and chew loudly. Once I moved away so I wasn’t distracted, I enjoyed the movie as an avid cosplayer but I can totally see the disconnect with modern day low IQ movie expectations. Like big monster smash things go brrrrrrrrr
And to further my disappointment, I was hoping for more Akroyd type jargon about physic level events and particles and physics, which is what tied my love into the first two, it still felt like there were scientists as ghostbusters. The pheobe story line was dumb af and none of it felt in synch with the older movies, almost like a Mandela effect of a ghostbuster movie.
when i went to see dune part 2 the theater was packed i think people are done with medicore movies
Well now I’m going to go see it again just to mess with their algorithm
forecasting movie results are extremely predictable for the most part with the right insider metrics and patterns. Insiders typically know how the movie will do sometimes weeks in advance based on behavioral patterns of the movie going audience. It’s actually kinda crazy.
What they need to do is a new animated series, similar to the Star Wars ones. Geared towards kids but still good stories for the grown ups. Afterlife and Frozen Empire were decent enough, but only fans and their kids are going to see them. They need to engage a new audience. Also, play slime has made a huge comeback, in addition to squishy weird sensory toys… they could really strike gold if they’re smart. Look at the Heroes of Goo Jit Zu toy line- if they put out ghosts like that with an accompanying show it would be a slam dunk.
They also need to realize you don't need to jam kids in things to attract kids. The original has no kids. The original cartoon had no kids. But kids loved them.
Also you're dead on about the slime thing. My wife works with kids and one of the biggest requested Christmas gifts for years going now has been slime kits. I had no idea.
It’s wild. There are so many variations on it now too, with different textures and consistencies. My son is on the spectrum, so they do lots of sensory play in school, which a lot of the time is various types of slime and kinetic sand type stuff.
They also need to realize you don't need to jam kids in things to attract kids. The original has no kids. The original cartoon had no kids. But kids loved them.
They did alter the designs for kids but that was just about the only concession. IIRC everyone was blindsided by how much kids liked the first one, to the point they'd explicitly said it might be too scary for kids in interviews and had no plans for toys.
There is one in development for Netflix.
And it don't look good...
Bummer.
It’s, at best, a decent film for a franchise that desperately needs to find a place in the hearts of a general audience.
Ghostbusters needed to come back with something very, very good and it just never did. It may have missed that opportunity now.
Afterlife was very very good.
This one was average at best. And I dare say that’s why it will probably go on to flop.
I hope it doesn’t.
Afterlife was as good as you could hope for a Ghostbusters movie about kids, the problem is that no one wants a Ghostbusters movie starring kids, and without the Spengler factor, the kids have outlived their usefulness plot wise.
They had the perfect out to leave the kids on the farm with their storyline resolved and move the focus to the refounded GB franchise in NYC.
Exactly. I liked Afterlife well enough but somehow I didn't want those characters to carry over.
This. I'm coming to believe that rebooting around the Afterlife cast was a big mistake (as talented as McKenna Grace is, and as amusing as Logan Kim can be).
You’re so right
You know, they could have simply filmed a 20 minute ‘what happened to Egon/the boys defeat Gozer’ mini webisode, and it would’ve done amazing. Imagine the first 5 minutes of Afterlife, showing Egon in Summerville etc. the falling out and them ending Gozer with him showing up. It was 1hr 40 mins too long. With FE, they should have done a 40 minute continuation with the original guys. Would’ve done much better without the kids and ‘teenage love’ storyline and other stupid points.
Afterlife was alright. It wasn’t very, very good.
Afterlife was 10 minutes of what we wanted in a universe we love. It was bittersweet. Hate to say it. FE felt like I got a call from the ‘IRS’ and I just gave my family fortune over to scammers.
Afterlife was fairly meh, but I agree it’s far better than Frozen Empire. The movie rankings are definitely in order of their release.
It was fine. Ghostbusters was pretty much my first obsession but I’d find it very hard to say Afterlife was very, very good. Very, very good movies stand the test of time over decades. The first one achieved that, this one won’t.
Ghostbusters come in twos. History repeats, and now the time for joyfulness is over. I'll look forward to the surprisingly good video game sequel in twenty years.
That idea would have more teeth if they hadn't just released a pretty fun Ghostbusters game less than two years ago and if every cancerous AAA live service release wasn't crashing and burning real hard right now.
Good games are still being released all the time, and there's plenty to look forward to in the future.
Carpathian Kitten Loss
If they were going to make a movie that was supposedly taking cues from The Real Ghostbusters, why not do the eternal Halloween story AND release it around Halloween?
Actually, I guess I know in that Sony wants Ghostbusters to be a big tentpole Christmas/summer blockbuster tentpole film for families, hence them originally having scheduled this for release last Christmas, in which the whole “eternal ice” threat/theme makes a little more sense, but this movie really should’ve gotten the release slot that Sony’s doomed Kraven movie has for this October.
Loved the movie and experience seeing it.
Don't love the merch release plan.
Theaters selling promotional movie merch weeks before the movie debuted, Wal Mart getting the toys and merch months before the movie came out and all being long gone before the release date...
I'm honestly not that surprised. It really doesn't feel like a fully coherent movie. It feels like someone took a 8 or 10 episode streaming series and edited it down to a 2 hour movie.
Exactly right.
Oh, well. It was fun until lasted.
I think if they want to go in the same direction they wanted to go in the film, they better just put a TV show so the characters can shine. Or just stop trying.
Terrible release time. Also let's be real, entire theater attendances after the initial opening week are getting rougher by the release for any movie. Everyone I know is just waiting to stream it besides ghostheads
The theater sucks so bad anymore. VASTLY overpriced, uncomfortable seats, and jerkoffs making noise and using cell phones during the movie while ushers do NOTHING about it.
It's like they want cinemas to fail. You just can't slack that hard in an age of ubiquitous big screen tvs and $30 5.1 surround sound systems.
Unfortunate, but it's not a good movie, and with a niche franchise like this that's a problem...
Word gets around fast. Lots of people aren't going because they heard it is not very good.
I'm a little bit surprised by this sentiment. It felt a lot like a live action version of the cartoon which was a lot of fun. Yeah it's not the 4 originals as leads, but they're literally too old for the actions scenes now anyway.
This doesn’t surprise me because the movie was okay at best, unfortunately 🤷🏻♂️
I like how the sensible response is at the bottom.
All the Top Posts are "should've release in Fall or Summer!!" (then why is Dune 2 and the new Godzilla/Kong doing just fine in March?). Or I see posts blaming the audience, or blaming the critics for being too mean and scaring people off.
They can never just admit it could be the movie's own fault. It just wasn't good enough to create interest. Nobody is fully recommending their coworkers rush to see Frozen Empire in theaters.
I was disappointed and bored throughout the majority of the film, unfortunately.
and that's being very generous.
The film will definitely crack $100 million domestic. Just not a ton more
I just saw it in London. I was one of four people at a 6:00 PM showing in a Friday night.
Well, that's a Friday night. Kids aren't going to go to that. Also, many of our cinemas are far too big anyway.
This thread is hilarious. You guys will blame everything except for the movie just not being very good.
There are more than a few people saying the movie wasn't great.
I'll throw my opinion in here.
Its poor performance, in my opinion, isn't due to the release date or marketing (Hell i've seen it advertised EVERYWHERE). I think the interest in Ghostbusters just isnt there anymore. Not on blockbuster levels.
Yes it has its die-hard fans and a fanbase from the original.....But having the franchise lay dormant for 27 years, then rebooting it in a way that spurred a lot of controversy, then abandoning that reboot to return to the OG timeline, although with new characters and in a way that was still tonally different from the OG....wasn't handled particularly well.
I think all that messed the audience around, confused a lot of people and caused loss of interest in the franchise for some.
Additionally, a large part of the OG fanbase are middle-aged men, not exactly the core of the cinema going public. Do some introduce the IP to their kids? Sure. BUT its not an IP that is naturally popular to children on a massive scale anymore. Children dont see the property. It doesn't have a cartoon, or a TV show, or a popular toy-line or a video game (None that are current with kids a least).
Marvel, Pokemon, Disney, Star Wars.....Ghostbusters doesnt factor anywhere near the top 20 IP's anymore and sadly hasn't since the early 1990s. Sony really need to think their approach to Ghostbusters.
Personally I think the brand has to be completely re-built if Sony want to see it on a blockbuster level again - The new Netflix animation is a start. It needs toy lines and popular merchandise, potentially a TV show too to attract older fans.....Movies on a blockbuster level are years away now and in need of serious character development.
Saw it opening week and going again tomorrow with my cousin and his family. Seeing in XD.
Okay, but how much has it made in blu and 4k preorders that launched the same week as release?
The franchise just crossed a billion with only five entires in total and is a merchandise juggernaut.
Everyone knew for a fact that losing all (!) premium format screens the second week would be a massive hit, and that GxK would open large.
None of this is news!
The franchise just crossed a billion with only five entires in total
Divide by 5 and you see that that's a terrible per-movie average. We're talking each film doing Shazam 2/Blue Beetle box office.
And one of the 5 was one of the biggest comedies of all time
Yeah, I mean 1984 was awesome. I was there. GREAT time to be a kid. What does that have to do with 2024?
Really don’t think it has anything to do with premium screens.
It has a lot to do with premium screens.
I mean you're also including the cartoon series into this franchise budget for ongoing revenue. Other merch and blah blah.. it's not like they were broke going into the movie
I just think people don’t want to go to the movies anymore.
I only go now if it’s something I REALLY want to see. Even then, it’s usually disrupted by someone on their phone or people talking, etc.
I’m at the point where I’d rather wait for it to be on my home tv.
Very likely a big part of it. Theaters have been dying for years as people wait for it to come out on disc or a streaming service because those are cheaper. FE is the 1st thing I've seen in theaters since 1917 and will probably be the last until something I'm really interested in comes out
Wow, 1917. Pre-talkies, impressive!
The WWI movie, but some silent films are a good watch. The original Nosferatu is good
Lolll and I am now upset you’re not a vampire cinephile, even name dropping Nosferatu! 😂
Really hoping it does well when it’s released on digital/physical. I’ve already preordered the 4K steelbook.
Maybe Sony should shift the franchise over to TV with a live action series to go with the upcoming cartoon series.
Imagine that the first movie can be divided into a series of levers.
One lever is the amount of horror in the movie. Another lever is the amount of lore in the movie. Another lever is the aspect of the movie that overlaps with childlike fun. Another lever correlates to SNL style adult comedy. And so on. There are maybe 50 levers in a row.
The first movie had an unbelievable perfection in how those levers were set that has never been replicated. Ever since, people have been pulling the levers in entirely different directions, whether for the cartoon, for the female reboot, for the comics, for the video games, for the most recent sequels.
And no one has been able to set those levers in a particular place that defines the future for the franchise in a way that people want to see as a whole.
The problem is that no one knows what Ghostbusters should be as a franchise, and haven’t been able to figure it out since that first movie. It’s very simple.
I imagine there won’t be a third movie. And then at some point in the distant future it will be rebooted again with franchise firehouses comprised of comedians and comedic actors as opposed to children.
I mean Jesus Christ, this is not that hard. All you have to do is ask your average moviegoer who the current Ghostbusters are and they will be at a loss. I mean come on Kari Koons? The kid from stranger things? What are we doing here? This is not rocket science.
Back in the 80s, your average moviegoer would instantly say Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray. The fact that Paul Rudd is the only name of note is absurd.
the franchise peaked with Extreme Ghostbusters but most people won't even acknowledge it.
You know, it's funny--the Indiana Jones and the Ghostbusters franchises have the same problem. Their first movies were the perfect combination of adventure, comedy, and horror. And. They. Were. Actually. Scary. There was a real sense of unearthly menace slowly closing in on everyday New York City in GB. In Raiders there were the increasingly ominous indications that the Ark was impossible to understand, forget control--much like the monster in Nope. That propulsion really took these movies to the next level.
As well, they centered around interesting adults--not some corporate executive's idea of what contemporary kids are like...or want. Phoebe is arguably the best thing in GB:FE (just like Holtzman was the best thing in GB 2016--a genuine wild card) But she's not enough to cancel out the awful other younger characters. () Or the tedious unfunny adult ones like Gary and Nadeem.
In short, making these franchises "family-friendly," homogenized, and utterly non-scary has made them bland, cookie-cutter...and a waste of everyone's time.
Yeah, it’s funny how people hate on the fridge scene from Indy, but I rewatched Temple of Doom recently, and completely forgot how utterly Loony Tunes the moment is when the drop out of a plane into a river in an inflatable raft. So much of that movie is insanely goofy, and then so much of it is incredibly, horrifically dark - those levers, man! Hard to get right!
So, expect it to be available for digital download in a couple of weeks?
I hate this, but the movie just wasn’t that good. There were so many problems with it.
Gonna go see it a few more times. GB fans should rally
Does it change the ending if you sit in a different seat at a different show time?
I’m using my regal pass every day to go get a ticket for GB:FE to help as much as that minuscule amount can! We need more GB movies!
Jesus Christ
Amen.
he has risen
AT-STs, AT-STs!
at least the movie had plausible deniability.
You don’t add revenue if you’re using a pass…
You do. For most of the passes it works out at the monthly cost divided by the number of movies you saw in that month, divided by the split they keep and what the give to the studio.
It's a small amount but cinemas do pay the studios for the unlimited pass bookings, they're not free to the cinema.
Do we though.
Apologies. I did not mean to speak for you. Yes, I do personally need more.
It’s only Saturday. Is the weekend over?
Yeah that is a weird thing to mention. Should count Sunday. Maybe this article was rushed. And easter is tomorrow. So... Huh
I'm on my way to see it give me an hour my friends and I will contribute.
17 hours later dudes got nothing to share I guess. The tragedy continues
I haven’t seen any ads to keep pushing the movie. Has anyone else?
As someone who still has cable, I've seen more of the mini-pufts Liberty Mutual commercials than the actual movie trailer ads.
I saw the original on TV at some point in 1986 or 1987 probably, I watched RGB from jump. I liked FE a lot and was smiling at the end. It was a chapter/adventure ala RGB, not groundbreaking or some huge thing but IMO quite enjoyable.
I mean, what exactly would be the perfect theatrical big budget movie that would have set the world on fire in this franchise? Harold’s been gone, Bill, Dan and Ernie are all around 70+ with only Ernie in great shape physically. It’s either brand new with nothing to do with the OGs (2016) and then you’re just using an empty shell of a property to sell something, or you pass the torch and try and involve originals well, or you do nothing.
To me it’s different than comic book characters you can do over and over again in different ways. Or Jurassic Park dinosaurs, or the giant galaxy of Star Wars. The property exists because of 1984 and that group. It’s not really meant to go on forever unless you’re in a different medium (games/cartoons) where people don’t age. And if you do age the option is the last 2 films.
I think what they could and should have done was something new and interesting. Not just a legacy reboot like the Force Awakens. The first Ghostbusters is an innovative movie that zigs when most movies zag, its also not a “feel good” kids movie.
First off I love the concept of Ghostbusters but I love the characters more. I will always love Stantz, Venkman, Zeddemore and Spengler more than any kids. I hated the kid ghostbusters on the cartoon and I don’t care for the kids now.
Secondly this movie and the last one were clearly safe swings. As a result the budgets were minimal and so were the screenplays. Sony was worried about losing money hence we end up on a farm. The most recent one was a little better but the final battle happened in the firehouse of all places?
What I would have done is expand on the original idea of it being a franchised business. Instead of focusing on a world beating threat, focus more on some of the comedy in running a now franchised corporate business. Forget Finn and McKenna, send them off to college, have Paul Rudd and the originals reestablish the business and as they do so recognize something along the way as they visit and help each franchisee that builds to something bigger.
That’s my rough idea.
Dang, I was hoping it would have a good hold.
How could it when it has no IMAX or Dolby Cinema screens?
I really wish I could go and watch it, but where I live the movie was only shown in English for a week. I was busy, and the day I finally was finally free, it left theaters. Now I'm stuck here waiting till it comes to digital and its so so frustrating. I was intentionally ignoring all ads, and not watching any trailers so I could see it with minimum spoilers and now the wait was for nothing...
Of course it did.
Assuming it's the same everywhere as near me it lost like 68% of screenings. Premium formats = gone to godzilla x Kong and more kung-fu panda 4 ones , 2d is cut back too as godzilla x Kong just came out so took more screens.
Lung Function Panda 4 🤣🤣🤣🤣💀
Fixed now no idea how I misspelt it to auto correct to that lol
Yeah it’s not going to even make what afterlife made
Dune 2, Godzilla and it's easter. That's a hard sell for a camp fest.
So my opinion of giving the movie a 6/10 was correct. At least I got that cool ghost trap popcorn bucket!
Look, Ghostbusters is only being made for merchandising. I love the franchise and the original characters but Sony’s just trying to extract value, squeeze the lemon. And I get it, they’re a business but no one made this movie or the last one to make a great Ghostbusters movie or to make a screenplay that had to be seen to be believed. Nope, it was all just to satisfy the need for content.
Ghosts = Halloween. The marketing strategy behind the whole thing fell flat on its arse. Film out at the end of October for Halloween then tease the Merchandise from then on the run up to Xmas. Like they used to in the 80's and 90's. Simples marketing by the People that are of the age that should know better
That’s a pretty bad drop considering it make 45 million in it’s first weekend
I wanted to like the new movie but it just seemed off. Too many characters being introduced that either did nothing or weren't give enough time for character development. A lot of how I felt about the movie was echoed by Ryan George. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rey_0viDB0
Every even numbered Star Trek movie is great, while the odd ones are usually not and get a lot of hate from fans.
I feel Ghostbusters is the opposite, where the odd ones (GB1, Afterlife) are great while the even numbered ones (GB2, FE) aren't. That 2016 imitation GB movie doesn't count.
GB2 > Afterlife
By a mile.
GB2 was still a ghostbusters movie. The rest are fan gouges at best.
I think they might have been better served focusing on a different team, maybe cameo Phoebe as an intern. establish them as a new franchise in a new city just for less baggage and do some local legends type thing.
I know this is sacrilege for this sub but I really didn't click with this movie... It felt like a marvel movie at times with the reintroduced characters, quippy lines that interrupt serious scenes and just generally being way too long with little action. I kid you not, a few people walked out before Garraka got introduced because he wasn't even shown until the last ~30 minutes of the movie. Most movies are over by then!
It's just not the direction I would have liked this to take. I hope others enjoy it but I wouldn't be surprised if this is where the new franchise ends.
Cant wait for some angry comments from Ghostbusters Fans hating on Godzilla x Kong
Yeah, because it sucks.
Huge GB fan here (saw both GB and GB2 in theaters as a kid, watched RGB after school, had the toys, have some merch on display, have dressed up in full gear for Halloween) but the movie just ain’t any good.
I also loved Afterlife. 2016 was “Ghostbusters”, but in the way that Chicago pizza is “pizza”. It’s not a comparison to NY pizza because they’re two different dishses with the same ingredients…NY has pizza, Chicago has pizza casserole. Just different!
Rallying around a movie that isn’t good won’t change people’s opinions. And it’s ok, they just missed the mark with FE. It just all around sucks.
Your pizza comparison to GB:ATC and the rest of the franchise is spot on.
Nah. It’s a great sequel and much better than Afterlife imo. Just below Ghostbusters 2
I’m completely the other way; it’s the bottom of the barrel for me. 1 GB, 2 AL, 3 GB2, 4 FE. Just my opinion.
I liked FE more than Afterlife but both pale in comparison to the originals. I just don’t care about the bland Spengler family.
The fact that they all took his name is bleh. The idea that the mother was holding a proton pack was stupid. Janine in uniform with a stupid wrist blaster is so lazy and stupid. And what the hell was with Ray and the way he was holding his Neutrona wand? He was holding it like a curling iron for crying out loud.
It was great, I'll see it again.
To be fair, consider the competition this weekend…
Long live the King
It makes sense. Theaters are pushing it off screens to make way for the next blockbusters. I took my mom to see it today (second time for me) and the theater was sold out. Small theater, but still sold out. It was only playing on 1 screen.
Pre-Covid I went to the theaters a few times a month. Now a sequel to a movie I thought was “ok” isn’t enough to get me to go.
Not looking good for a sequel. If this doesn't get a better return than Afterlife then this franchise will be getting shelved.
I think a direct sequel to Frozen Empire is out of the question. I know that an animated movie is in the works along with the Netflix series. Considering that it’s now a billion-dollar franchise.
It's a new age where technology is easily pirated and copied.
There won't be many movies that do what marvel did for a while
Budget on this was still comparatively low at $100 million; after overseas, streaming, and home video, it’ll do OK.
I feel like this is every movie now. Nobody goes except fans or people just looking for something fun to take their kids to. Everybody else waits to see movies on streaming.
I seriously thought this movie was gonna be a summer release. Releasing in March is a death sentence.
Frozen Empire was great but releasing before it a mere week before New Empire was not smart. Godzilla x Kong has been hyped for months. Frozen should have been released weeks after.
I think they missed the chance to pick the series back up in any meaningful way by waiting too long. I didn’t mind Afterlife, and I will see this, but I don’t have very high expectations.
Maybe it’s more like, 68% of Frozen Empire’s audience saw it opening weekend!
Well, my kids and I saw it this evening. Theater was probably 75% occupied.
I do love how this and gxk could switch their sub-titiles, and nothing would change.
Even had the same scene of people enjoying the beach before it freezes over.
Well, Easter and opening weekend are upon us.
The actors and staff want their money.. telling them to wait till Halloween or summer is crazy. Does anyone here not live pay check to pay check. I bet 90%+ of this movies credited staff live close to if not pay check to pay check. Asking them to do work for weeks and months with basically no guaranteed continued income or maybe even no income till after the DVDs sell and even then the DVDs won't release till after the movie leaves the theater and the movie won't be in the theater for 7 months because y'all said it should wait till Halloween.. ugly.. good try on them sorry it's running a race against the Hemsworth Ghostbusters for losers bracket.
Gg. Still haven't seen it because I'm not going to pay 20$ for a ticket and 20$ for a popcorn+soda.
Nobody knows what is out in the theater. I got invited to see an early screener of the movie and I loved it.
I am a huge Fan but this movie just is a big flop. Sad to see, but i guess this was the last movie we will get
Hey, it ain't over until its over
There's still another couple weeks anything can happen......
They really should have had a better script not this mess they made
The issue remains that Ghostbusters has never been a franchise.
The original was a flash in the pan, once-in-a-lifetime magic formula. It made $229mil worldwide which, for a comedy in 1984, was huge money. But none of the subsequent sequels have managed to really top this.
The female reboot pretty much matched it, but adjusted for inflation it was considerably lower attendance (and profit).
They keep treating Ghostbusters like it's a big franchise but it's really not. It has a cult fanbase that is getting older but it's just not a series on the same level as, say, a Harry Potter or Jurassic Park or other family-themed fantasy / sci-fi / adventure series.
Compare it to something like Jumanji...the original film in '95 made about $260mil worldwide. The reboot in 2017 made a billion.
That's a sign that audiences were hungry for more of what the series had to offer, and they turned it from a standalone successful film with nostalgia into a bonafide franchise. Ghostbusters has simply never been able to pull that off, and now this will be the lowest-grossing entry in the series.
Release a Ghostbusters movie based in a hot climate where a supernatural ice lord takes over in the summer? Pretty bad choice.
Release a Ghostbusters movie not near HALLOWEEN!?!? Worst choice.
The movie might be fizzling but the Ghostbusters Coffee is on fire!
Just put an animated series out that is adult based. That will do insanely good with viewers. Original guys, continues directly after GB2.
My other half and I went to see it a couple of times. I liked it a lot better the second time around. People should give it a chance IMO.
Do not run around blaming the public. They could not have picked a worse time to release this movie. Should have released in the summer.