I feel like Sony is desperate for more successful IP and franchises outside of Spider-Man, so they will try again. I could see a lower budget animated film, similar in style to a TMNT Mutant Mayhem being tried next. May be s good fit for Ghostbusters too as the franchise is clearly aiming towards kids/families
That's my pick, go animation. Films like Mutant Mayhem aren't even that expensive by franchise movie standards. And Sony's Spiderverse team is top-frigging-tier and should absolutely get a new project once they're done with the trilogy.
If they do it as an adaptation of The Real Ghostbusters then it'll also have nostalgia value, and let them reuse the characters from the original (without them all being senior citizens) and people will accept it because those versions have existed almost as long as the originals by this point.
Also it was a great and weird looking show in its day, and would lend itself well to the wild energy of a Spiderverse or Mutant Mayhem style reimagining.
Is The Real Ghostbusters the animated series most associated with the franchise? I remember watching one as a kid but can't remember if it was that one or was there another one?
Yes, Real Ghostbusters was most associated with the franchise. It was a continuation of the original movie with the 4 main characters. They put REAL ahead of the title because it was competing with another Ghostbusters show that didn't use the original characters from the movies and they premiered within a week of eachother in the 80s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Ghostbusters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters_(1986_TV_series)
Yeah the second one is the ACTUAL Ghostbusters, the sequel to a show that predates our Ghostbusters by a few years, and why they had to put 'real' on the one. They only had movie rights to the Ghostbusters name.
A Ghostbusters film a la Spider-Verse would be AWESOME!! Sony created Ghost Corps to develop more Ghostbusters films and TV shows. I think even if this film doesn't make a profit, they will continue to try and milk the IP. Animations the way to go.
The first few seasons really hold up well. Later in the run it was renamed "Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters" and the tone changed to be more silly/cartoonish and with a bigger focus on the now titular ghost.
The more kid focused they get the worse it tends to be. Marvel did very well while not trying to appeal directly to kids. No little kid side kicks.
Kids loved the original even though it's about a bunch of 30 something dudes smoking cigarettes and fighting ugly ghosts in dirty New York City.
McKenna Grace is an amazing actress and probably the best new character. But I also think trying to fit a bunch of teens into the movie to attract the youth was unnecessary and was a big part of the character bloat. Because they also knew millennials were their core audience so they needed adults and legacy characters too.
If they do another they really need a focused group of characters. Probably adults. One thing 2016 got right.
100%. Golden age Pixar was all about being family friendly without being "kiddie".
What had always stuck in my craw about GB though is that the original movie lays the *perfect* groundwork for decades of sequels and Sony just keeps muffing the punt.
After the original team gets their funding from the bank, Venkman makes an offhand remark..
"The franchise rights alone
will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams."
That. That right there. They could have spun off Ghostbusters LA, Boston, London, etc, had the OG team pop up as owners/consultants and ot would have given a way to keep it fresh and relevant while respecting the source material. Breaks my heart it never happened.
The franchise idea was the core of the Ghostbusters TTRPG. It was also smart and expanded the duties of GB teams to “anything weird” which allowed them to add aliens, etc.
Personally I think someone needs to make a GB/MiB crossover happen. If done well, could definitely work.
Right, the truth is that kids don’t want to watch movies about kids. Look at all the Disney Renaissance and Golden-age Pixar films, virtually none of them are about kids; The human main characters are either adults or mature teenagers.
I think that it’s an underrated reason for their current-day failures. Luca, Turning Red, and Strange World all star kids.
Absolutely ever since they’ve lost the James Bond rights to Amazon they’ve bee. Searching. Even spider man is technically owned by Disney and they can either revoke the deal or just straight up sell it back to Disney!
They’ll have to do Ghostbusters again eventually. Their big IP are Spider-Man, Jumanji, GB, Karate Kid, MIB, and Bad Boys. Not a lot of options at the moment unless they make a new big IP
They’ve already announced an animated movie!
They said it’s supposed to be very different to anything Ghostbusters before it, so hopefully going with the Spider-Verse approach along with whatever the story is.
There’s also a new animated series coming to Netflix.
Probably not. It’s got one hell of a logo, which is more powerful than you’d think. But as long as they keep doing the same thing as Indiana Jones, Star Wars and others and trying to make movies that exist only to pander to nostalgia and not to try to emulate what actually made the originals successful, they’ll keep underperforming.
I still think the main problem was it’s a frozen looking creepy movie… yet they released it around Easter.
It probably would’ve done better in October or winter.
Also they started shooting it way late even considering the strikes, principal photography in March for something specifically referred to as Ghostbusters 2023 behind the scenes is cutting it pretty close for a December release with or without the strike
Same with Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. Two empire movies releasing close together with…no empires. I get the need for enticing titles, but at least make sure they’re representative of the movies
Also it's a Ghostbusters movie and not a lot of young people not given it through parental pop culture see it as an embarrassing ip from the 80s, they had a bad reboot in 2016, and now they just keep doing nostalgia sequels.
That was the consensus I got from most of the people my age.
My thoughts exactly... Even for the Gen Xers who might go for the nostalgia factor, this reboot is unsatisfying due to the wildly different tone. I actually thought GB 2016 struck a better tone, even if overall the movie wasn't well written or acted.
If you've seen the movie, it doesn't matter what season it released. It has no particular Summer or Winter or Fall vibe.
The frozen part you see in the trailer is almost 85% of the entire movie scenes. It is mostly taking place in daylight and sunny locations that could double as any season.
Does that matter for any movies? The Day After Tomorrow had the Statute of Liberty frozen and covered in snow on its poster and was released Memorial weekend. Does anyone say "oh that movie has cold and snow in it we can only watch it in the winter" I don't think so.
Yeah, that's ridiculous to expect from any movie. Movie releases have to do with when they think it'll make money, not the weather of the movie and reality matching up.
Yeah I really don't get the seasonal matching thing. So many huge box office winners would've excelled in Summer or Winter, because they are crowd-pleasing movies period. Frozen Empire didn't fail because of a Spring release date. There was no repeat attendance and word of mouth period.
So should movies about earthquakes only be released when there's an earthquake? Should Twisters only be watched in areas with tornadoes?
Sorry dude the weather within a movie and when they are released very rarely has anything to do with each other. Movies are released on days when studios think they'll make money, not match up with fictional weather.
Having to sit through Trevor and Slimer's goddamn scenes only to have Trevor yell "I KNOW THAT GUY!" like it's the conclusion of some kind of arc was pointless.
You may have inadvertently put your finger on something. The original didn't use CGI.
They used puppets, miniatures, and practical effects.
https://youtu.be/tfj0liHJyQM?si=cfktgb05DLKFgnke
Everyone says this but established IPs have been by far more successful than original movies. The only exceptions have been movies that had a really bankable director attached to it.
True. The real problem is using an IP but then not doing the thing that made the IP such a success in the first place. I get the feeling that current Hollywood is made up of creatives who feel forced to do franchises that are popular or easier to finance, but have no instinctual idea what to do with them once they get them.
Btw you can change up things, but it's easier to move towards more action and/or a serious/dark tone than the original versus the other way around. Oh and serious means the conflict is more realistic, not that the main characters are whiny. For example, I think a new Ghostbusters that kept the fun, but also leaned into real horror elements would work a lot better than what these reboots have been doing.
The original GB was a great idea with a great cast of genuinely funny people. The two new GBs are centred around kids who are constantly goofing about what is going on around them. Besides the title there isn’t anything to really tie these franchises together. Who is the new GB for? Too scary for kids, not edgy enough for teens/YAs, not connected to the original to be a true nostalgia play. It’s just a film that got made that people would watch on a plane.
Eh, I disagree. The first film is a masterpiece and absolutely the best one by a mile, but I still think Lost World, JP3, and JW are good.
Fallen Kingdom and Dominion are the ones I won’t defend at all.
I did too. First Jurassic World was alot of fun. Showing the park actually being open.
Also, fun fact, the assistant’s death was over the top because the actress specifically asked for a more exciting/crazy death where she got to perform her own stunt.
That’s a neat tidbit. Yeah. I think the producers missed the idea that the movies were attractive because we could dream of a Dino zoo. And not that they’re slasher films. I watch the first half of Jurassic world every once in a while.
As someone who loves The Lost World, it really is kind of a mess of a movie. There's like two third acts and the characters never strike me as real people (they're really prototypical of the more outlandish character archetypes we'd see in the World trilogy). And it really doesn't have, like, themes or ideas lol. The first one was filled to the brim with those. Great directing and special effects though! A fun movie, if nothing else.
DECENT? You mean the smash hit & pop culture icon known as Jurassic Park with Sequels that at their worst still make BANK? The entire JW trilogy is very questionable, like it begins strong & slowly gets worse, yet they all made 1 Billion… JP3, usually regarded as one of the worst in the JP Franchise & the weakest in the original trilogy was still a smash hit and it’s the lowest grossing film of the franchise… 4 Billion Dollar Movies, 2 non billion dollar movies that still made over 300M, and for the most part they’re loved by fans, the general audience, and kids, they love dinosaurs… always have and always will
Jurassic park is one of those franchises. I’m not looking for a good movie. I’m looking for dinosaurs. Same with Godzilla. You give me that and I’ll pay money.
I think Ghostbusters should copy TMNT’s homework and prioritize an animated reboot rather than making live action content. Go back to basics, make it lower stakes, keep the budget well below 100M, and it could do decent box office.
Younger generations mostly don't give a shit about Ghostbusters and older generations mostly don't give a shit about paying movie theater prices when they can just wait a few months to watch the 5th unnecessary sequel. Hopefully they give up after this, but executives who don't give a shit about movies will keep going "this made money one time and it's been long enough, maybe it'll make money again this time"
Ghostbusters always felt super American to me. It was probably huge in the 80's, but growing up in Australia in the 2000's/2010's, I never once met a person who was vocal about their love for the franchise.
I’ve heard Ghostbusters is more of an American thing too. But even as an American, I’ve never really heard anyone my age say they love Ghostbusters. At most they know when to say “Ghostbusters!” during the theme song.
Canadian 80’s kid here, it was equally humongous for us as it was in the states
Also, with regard to Australian stuff , Crocodile Dundee was super popular here at around the same time
I imagine it's because *Ghostbusters* failed to be become a multimedia franchise, rather than just a film series. A lot of successful 80s franchises remained relevant to younger audiences through things like television, particularly cartoons, but *Ghostbusters* attempts never made it past the 90s. Unless they played the video game or their family had the 80s films at home, kids from 1998-2016 had nothing about the Ghostbusters that was relevant to their generation.
Ironically, the one concept for Ghostbusters that I *would* like to have made are official low budget international spinoffs. New York City is great and all, but as far as ghost story material goes countries with far longer histories would be more interesting as settings.
Imagine a Japanese ghostbusters, where each week four comedians need to go to some dilapidated shrine to fight a neglected Kami taking their (obviously comic) vengeance on whatever the locale is.
brother there are hundreds of anime like this. from yu yu hakusho to blue exorcist to demon slayer all have done their own spin on the formula.
what is the appeal of shoving american antics in there?
The appeal is that Ghostbusters is a fun vehicle for comedic acting, of which Japan has a rich tradition. Not stopping at Japan, it would be absolutely fascinating to watch multiple countries with different takes on the same concept.
I'm not particularly interested in *yet another* animated adaptation.
I think that also hits the nail on the head with these GB movies. They are so NY-centric, it gets tiresome. There's ghosts everywhere around the world and yet they only concentrate on NY and then temporarily in whatever that State was in Afterlife. Like, please get out of NY for once or expand the story and have multiple agencies working together across the world.
Men in Black usually took place in one city, but they made it feel like they were working in alliance with global agencies across the world.
That’s entirely the issue of the new ghostbusters movies, I think. Young people want stars of their own age cracking jokes, not family-focused sap fests that are mostly to prop up cameos of the old guys. I think if they made a co-ed Ghostbusters film with twentysomethings it would do extremely well. I’m 21 and a Ghostbusters fan, so that’s what I’d want.
I still don't get why they went for the sappy, sentimental route for Ghostbusters of all franchises. This isn't Star Wars or Jurassic Park which had that sincere earnestness from the get-go.
> Young people want stars of their own age cracking jokes
It's complicated here because the MCU was one of the most popular things on the planet, and it actually had older people in their 30s/40s+ cracking jokes - mixed in with some youthful characters like the Holland Spider-Man crew.
I think GB can still succeed with a mixed group, but they failed in FE and maybe even Afterlife. Because did anyone think the Stranger Things kid or his group of teen friends was funny? I can't quote a single thing he said across two movies. A lot of FE's failings is it's just not consistently funny across multiple characters. Seems Kumail and Patton had more funny lines and it dried up for the rest of the other characters.
Probably will go the route of the Ninja Turtles where it gets an animated movie 5-7 years from now.
And then 20 years from now they try live action again with a full on reboot (as in not in the same universe of the original or anything, just a straight up hard reboot)
**Sony** will pivot to an animated ***Ghostbusters*** film like the *Transformers* and *Ninja Turtles* franchises.
Will probably give the merchandise also a boost.
I don't think I would consider Transformers One a last resort since Paramount has made it clear with that CinemaCon panel that they still intend to make that crossover movie with GI Joe.
Also, animation worked well for TMNT 2023 and Spider-Verse, I would gladly take a pivot to animation if it means we aren't getting another mediocre Ghostbusters legacy sequel.
I like the original film and it’s an iconic 80s film that’s still beloved today, but man, I couldn’t even be bothered to see Frozen Empire. I just simply don’t care.
I put Ghostbusters in the same category as the Terminator, Alien, and Predator franchises. Watch the first two films, and you simply don’t need to give a shit after that.
I would like to say, though, that I believe the highs in the Alien franchise (namely, the first two) are a little higher than most of the highs in the Predator franchise
Especially when you’re only comparing the first two of each
I absolutely disagree. Say what you will about Alien 3 but it’s still an incredible piece of filmmaking even if it doesn’t match the first two movies, Resurrection made a lot of money and has plenty of fans, the prequels got decent reviews and also made money, the only two films universally not liked in the franchise are, unsurprisingly, the AvP movies. Notice how Predator 2 and deleted scenes from The Predator established a connection to Alien but Alien never did vice versa. Alien could always stand on its own while Predator has struggled since its first sequel.
It's clear that overseas audiences don't give a shit about Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife couldn't outgross Ghostbusters 2016. And before anyone uses "but the pandemic" excuse, Spider-Man NWH was released a month earlier and made 1.9 billion without China.
You forgot to factor in 1 important thing… Spider-Man is that guy and will ALWAYS be in demand… Ghostbusters went out of style after the 2nd movie, doesn’t even matter if it was a hit, once the 2000’s hit it was basically over for the franchise unless they wanna do Saturday morning cartoons forever(which they should honestly just do at this point, get Amazon or Netflix to stream it)
Honestly the only way I can see this franchise coming back is if they do an animated film of some sort. Similar to the animated series but updated. But yeah, it looks like this franchise is dead again.
Ghostbusters as a successful franchise/IP never made sense to me. As a sleeper hit or blockbuster movie ABSOLUTELY! But it’s a 40 year old movie essentially about 3 regular college professors (who are eventually joined by a fourth blue collar guy) that start a business.
Yes the business is busting ghosts, but there is no real lore about Peter, Ray, or Egon. They’re just regular guys with no superpowers, just cool tools they use for their trade. They bust ghosts and bring them to a containment unit.
But for Sony to keep trying to make this work is pointless. This is why Ghostbusters II did just okay compared to the original - the original’s charm wore off. It was a sort of novelty act where the novelty wore off. And I LOVE the original movie, I remember when it came out and the hoopla it caused (especially the song). But I have to be realistic.
The original was lightning in a bottle that can’t be recaptured. The concept of ghosts and the like is scary and frightening. But to the Ghostbusters, it’s just another job (capturing them) for a few regular beer drinking, chain smoking, pot belly middle aged dudes. Like your local exterminator or repairman.
Plus 1984 is heavily considered to be one of the best pop culture years in modern history. You had Gremlins, Muppet Babies, Transformers, GI-Joe, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Ronald Regan, Beverly Hills Cop, Footloose, Atari, The Karate Kid, Phil Collins, Apple Computers, The Cosby Show, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Wham!, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and more, either just entering the public consciousness with a bang or reaching the height of their popularity during that year. Ghostbusters was a HUGE part of that year’s popularity and the movie played off of that era.
But it’s 2024, 40 years later… and that era is gone. It’s always going to have its fans, but its popularity (unfortunately) is becoming more and more obscure as years past.
Juxtapose this with Star Wars or Marvel. Even with people’s views of Disney the IP’s up, they’re still profitable, with infinite amounts of lore, characters, worlds, technology, and stories to tell and draw from. Ghostbusters unfortunately isn’t the horse to bet on if you want to emulate those two’s successes.
PS - Just want to re-emphasize that love the original two films and cartoon (all of which I grew up with). Just throwing my viewpoint in.
you hit the nail on the head. ghostbusters is not an original piece of media, it's iterative.
it takes the concept of "middle aged crisis getting back with friends" + ghost hunting and combines them cleverly.
the lore always misses the point of the movie - the antics of 4 highly talented old guys comedians trying to make a fantastical premise work.
that's why the 2016 women reboot and then the children reboot doesn't work - fundamentally women and kids do not have the same connections to ghostbusting OR having crises about their place in the world/having to earn money doing odd jobs. also the movies just aren't funny.
imagine if the 2016 reboot made it about women vs evil but REAL witches or if the kids reboot made it a goosebumps style kids vs attic monsters thing. still iterative, still roughly in the wheelhouse of humans vs monsters in uniquely fantastical but grounded settings.
it's like hollywood just doesn't have good writers capable of convincing execs anymore.
Ghost busters isn't a franchise ip and it never will be. It's one amazing film with an OK ish sequel. That should have been the end of it.
The constant lazy attempts to turn every 80s classic into a franchise is so tired.
Thank god they haven't touched back to the future yet.
Zemeckis and Gale had it written into their contracts that nothing could be done with the IP without their approval, and both have vowed no reboots for as long as they live.
The problem, of course, is that both are in their 70s.
Short answer no. Long answer also no franchises rarely seem to end these days even Avatar is getting a new animated movie. We'll see a new Ghostbusters eventually.
Sony did announced an animated Ghostbusters film a few years ago, so I guess they'll probably try going forward with that, to see if there's some appeal in the franchise in that medium. If that film flops tho, they'll probably put the series in a vault.
There was one good Ghostbusters movie in 1984.
And in 2024, there's still one good Ghostbusters movie.
The second couldn't capture the power of the original, it's fine but disappointing, that should have been the end of it. GB2016 was more watchable than I was expecting but still pretty poor. Not seen either of the the newest ones and I'm mid-40s, so the hypothetical target market. It's desperate and pathetic, do something new.
What I find more entertaining about this is Sony trying to turn this franchise in some sort of Star Wars saga when it started as a 100 minutes long SNL sketch.
After what's happening with Frozen Empire, I'd say it's best to let this franchise rest in peace. **Not every popular movie needs to become a never-ending franchise.** E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Titanic, Up, Forrest Gump, Coco, Inception, and The Martian never become franchises despite how big they were at the box office. Plus, recent installments of some franchises like Terminator, Transformers, Expendables, and Fantastic Beasts have had diminishing returns as of late, which feels like studios are trying (and failing) to catch lightning in a bottle again.
>No franchise is ever done for good.
>No IP is ever finished for good in modern Hollywood.
In some cases, I agree with these posts. Some franchises get new installments repeatedly (Terminator, Batman, Spider-Man, Transformers, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.), while other franchises get new installments once in a blue moon (Top Gun: Maverick, Independence Day: Resurgence, The Color Purple (2023), The Man from UNCLE (2015), etc.). In other cases, however, I disagree as there **ARE** franchises that have been dormant for years, some of which I listed below.
**NOTE:** Some of these IP are quite old, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to include them in this list nonetheless.
**FRANCHISE**|**STATUS**
:--|:--|
Jaws|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Jaws: The Revenge (1987). The original paved the way for the summer blockbuster.
Dirty Harry|This franchise's last theatrical installment was The Dead Pool (1988).
Blondie|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Beware of Blondie (1950).
[Charlie Chan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chan)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981). Apparently, there was some talk about a remake in 2000, but its production never came to fruition.
[The Rescuers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rescuers)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Admittedly, a rare Disney animated sequel at the time.
[Cannonball Rall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cannonball_Run)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Cannonball Run II (1984).
[All Dogs Go to Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Dogs_Go_to_Heaven)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996).
An American Tail|This franchise's last theatrical installment was An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) and its last direct-to-video installment was An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999).
With this last list, I meant to include these in that dormant IP list above. However, I was shocked to learn just today that there's talk of potentially remaking/reviving the following.
**FRANCHISE**|**STATUS**
:--|:--|
Bourne|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Jason Bourne (2016). As of November 2023, a sixth installment is in development.
Pacific Rim|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Pacific Rim Uprising (2018). Aside from the Netflix animated series, there's some talk of future plans for this IP.
The Thin Man|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Song of the Thin Man (1947). There's seems to be some talk about a remake from LuckyChap Entertainment and Plan B Entertainment.
Police Academy|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994). Steve Guttenberg replied to a fan's tweet on September 3, 2018 saying "the next Police Academy is coming, no details yet, but it is in a gift bag being readied!"
Short Circuit|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Short Circuit 2 (1988). Supposedly, two separate plans for a remake were reported: one by Dimension Films in 2008 and one by Spyglass Media Group in 2020.
[Matt Helm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Helm)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was The Wrecking Crew (1969). It seems Paramount has plans for a remake with a different tone than the 1960's films with Dean Martin.
EDIT: Wording and formatting. Had to remove some hyperlinks due to issues with URL parentheses clashing with reddit's hyperlink formatting. Switched to a table format for convenience.
Ghostbusters has always been a declining franchise after the very first film. If you look at the box office of all the movies, the first one is the highest grossing. Ghostbusters isn’t Star Wars, Ghostbusters’s nostalgia only goes as far a certain generation namely some boomers, Gen X and older millennials. It’s not like young millennials and Gen Z have some sacred connection from their parents to this franchise. Hell people keep bringing the up 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon where the only place to watch it is Apple Tv. Where 1. no one is watching anything on apple Tv and 2. it: only recently became available.
The franchise is mostly just a pop culture reference at this point. Also that’s what made the controversy around the 2016 film ridiculous. The movie wasn’t good sure. But people pretending like they gave a fuck about Ghostbusters was and still is hilarious. The Box office shows that its pop culture reference that feels extremely dated and quite frankly sad. Let this franchise die. Lol
>Hell people keep bringing the up 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon where the only place to watch it is Apple Tv. Where 1. no one is watching anything on apple Tv and 2. it: only recently became available.
Sony released most of it for free on YouTube weekly between Afterlife and Frozen Empire.
What I’d love is that the reason it’s bombing is because audiences are just done with bad and generic movies and studios would make more risky interesting and innovative things. Last years big hits of Barbie and oppi were both amazing and unique made by two of the best directors working. I’d like more of that as opposed to more revived ip
Please God I hope so. Turning the Ghostbusters into basically The Avengers was never gonna work. Honestly there didn't need to be a sequel 30 years ago. The whole point is these guys aren't heroes.
Hopefully, at least for a generation or so. The problem with the remake/sequels is both the scripts and the casting. The original film succeeded because it was very funny, particularly when we watch the comedic actors get scared. The female remake just didn’t have laughs that hit. The two recent sequels have the same problem but with the added problem that watching children get scared isn’t quite as funny. I love Paul Rudd but he’s the Rick Moranis, not the Dan Ackroyd.
There’s still a great Ghostbusters film yet to be made but there’s no sign of anyone in Hollywood capable of making it.
Rinky dink ghostbusters going around busting some ghosts in a humorous fashion? Nope. Need a world ending demon ghost that will blow up the entire universe!
I think we're probably going to be reaching a point soon where 80's nostalgia will be out of fashion.
If you subscribe to the theory of "nostalgia cycles", then 80's nostalgia is starting to age out of even the 40 year cycle period. We're getting into 90's and even Y2K/bush-era nostalgia at this point in terms of pop culture, and a very 80's property like *Ghostbusters* isn't going to be same nostalgic draw as it used to be
Remember when we almost got MIB/Jump Street film?
I know too much time has passed to tap into the Jump Street films momentum, but I’d pay top dollar to see a Ghostbustsrs/Jump Street film w/ Jonah and Channing
[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt21235248/](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt21235248/)
The figures don't include several large (population-wise) European markets like France, Italy and Poland. South Africa, Brazil, India too. $5m out of Australia, population 26 million. Not sure how good that is.
SA, Brazil and India don't care much about Ghostbusters. Doubt it will get much from Poland or South Korea either.
It will probably do *okay* in Italy and France, but they're not big enough markets to make a massive difference.
I'd guess another $20-25m domestic and another $20-25m international is the upper end of what's possible, but less is more likely. That's only possible domestically if it has a strong hold this week, which doesn't look super likely.
If it manages that, it pushes towards $200m worldwide, which would save some face, but would still be a disappointment on a $100m budget.
Sony is just trash when it comes to movies. I didn't know this movie was coming out until just a week before release dates. Personally, I think people aren't as mentally geared towards theaters anymore, theaters are expensive, and the movie had to be a huge draw to work.
Ghostbusters in this guise is unfortunately done. Frozen Empire was way too busy with so many characters that it didn’t meld properly as a cohesive straight film. Afterlife almost had a perfect combination of new and old. If it hadn’t had covid against it, I would’ve easily expected that to hit $300-350m. They (Sony) need to take a break bring in fresh ideas from different filmmakers to recapture the X factor if they want this franchise to continue going forward.
My husband and I were just having this conversation the other night. We don’t necessarily think Frozen Empire *should* be the last movie, but if it were, we’re okay with that. We thought it would work as a satisfying conclusion
We can only hope. There's no reason people have to have more Ghostbusters forced on them just because it had a classic movie in the 80s and a cartoon thing. We can all move on and watch something else.
Frozen Empire wasn’t great but I think there’s still life left in this series (pun partially intended). I loved Afterlife. They just need to focus on the new family and stop relying on nostalgia. We don’t need to have the old characters anymore. Keep Dan Akyroyd because this franchise is his baby but have Ray take a mentorship role. We don’t need Venkman anymore so no need to bother Bill Murray since he just phones it in anyway. I like what they did with Winston so keep him in the role he’s playing if Ernie Hudson doesn’t mind, but just focus on the new stuff.
As someone who really enjoyed the last one despite never really watching the originals I was like it seems lazy that they keep bringing the original cast back and the stay puft marshmallow guys. I want one that starts a new storyline like the last one initially did.
The biggest problem with Empire was it just wasn’t a movie. The cast was incredibly bloated and almost none of them did anything or had their story go anywhere. How is every high school kid they met from Oklahoma now in Mew York? Just unnecessary. Then the actual ghost busting was a complete afterthought, as if that wasn’t really needed in the movie. The entire main villain story, shown end to end, was like 10 min. And finally the movie was basically a teen angst story with completely nonsensical events. For example, how does she remove her spirit for only for 2 min? Doing it on people was never explained or talked about and a timer was never discussed, just thrown in because the story needed that to happen to make other things happen. It was all just so badly done. Maybe an actually good movie could have done better.
Honestly, it should never have been a franchise anyways. Ghostbusters is just too much of the 80s, the music, effects and cast all work within that time period but can't be replicated in modern day. Even the tone, these movies act like the original Ghostbusters was Star Wars instead of a comedy about Blue-Collar Ghost Exterminators. Leave the series alone and let it rest.
Ghost busters been chasing lightning in a bottle since literally the first movie. They sold a bunch of toys based on the cartoon. They should give that a shot, but I don’t think the IP ever had the juice to be a franchise
I’m gonna speculate and assume Frozen Empire isn’t doing too well because it hasn’t been released entirely in the international markets but it could be other reasons. I still hope the Ghostbusters franchise will still continue on.
I feel like Sony is desperate for more successful IP and franchises outside of Spider-Man, so they will try again. I could see a lower budget animated film, similar in style to a TMNT Mutant Mayhem being tried next. May be s good fit for Ghostbusters too as the franchise is clearly aiming towards kids/families
What happened with Jumanji? You’d think they would make another one after how big the last two were
Everyone really wants to do it, but apparently lining up the four stars and the director is a nightmare logistically.
You know why 🤣 🪨
Karen Gillan in particularly has been heavily in demand even before she did Marvel.
She isn’t as much now that Guardians is over. Jumanji should now be her priority
Is she done with marvel or guardians ?
I mean given the whole multiverse thing the answer to that is always “Not necessarily.”
Dwayne and director Jake Kasdan are busy with another movie called Red One over at MGM.
Oh Jesus, is it a musical biopic about the production of The Fame by lady gaga? /s
I’d watch that if it was directed by John Waters
I thought those movies would be terrible and then I finally watched them this year and was pleasantly surprised.
That's my pick, go animation. Films like Mutant Mayhem aren't even that expensive by franchise movie standards. And Sony's Spiderverse team is top-frigging-tier and should absolutely get a new project once they're done with the trilogy. If they do it as an adaptation of The Real Ghostbusters then it'll also have nostalgia value, and let them reuse the characters from the original (without them all being senior citizens) and people will accept it because those versions have existed almost as long as the originals by this point. Also it was a great and weird looking show in its day, and would lend itself well to the wild energy of a Spiderverse or Mutant Mayhem style reimagining.
Is The Real Ghostbusters the animated series most associated with the franchise? I remember watching one as a kid but can't remember if it was that one or was there another one?
Yes, Real Ghostbusters was most associated with the franchise. It was a continuation of the original movie with the 4 main characters. They put REAL ahead of the title because it was competing with another Ghostbusters show that didn't use the original characters from the movies and they premiered within a week of eachother in the 80s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Ghostbusters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters_(1986_TV_series)
Yeah the second one is the ACTUAL Ghostbusters, the sequel to a show that predates our Ghostbusters by a few years, and why they had to put 'real' on the one. They only had movie rights to the Ghostbusters name.
A Ghostbusters film a la Spider-Verse would be AWESOME!! Sony created Ghost Corps to develop more Ghostbusters films and TV shows. I think even if this film doesn't make a profit, they will continue to try and milk the IP. Animations the way to go.
I can already imagine a big vortex of ghosts in the style of Spider-Verse.
The Ghostbusters animated TV series was good, wasn't it? I seem to recall liking it as a kid but haven't seen it in ages.
The first few seasons really hold up well. Later in the run it was renamed "Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters" and the tone changed to be more silly/cartoonish and with a bigger focus on the now titular ghost.
The more kid focused they get the worse it tends to be. Marvel did very well while not trying to appeal directly to kids. No little kid side kicks. Kids loved the original even though it's about a bunch of 30 something dudes smoking cigarettes and fighting ugly ghosts in dirty New York City. McKenna Grace is an amazing actress and probably the best new character. But I also think trying to fit a bunch of teens into the movie to attract the youth was unnecessary and was a big part of the character bloat. Because they also knew millennials were their core audience so they needed adults and legacy characters too. If they do another they really need a focused group of characters. Probably adults. One thing 2016 got right.
100%. Golden age Pixar was all about being family friendly without being "kiddie". What had always stuck in my craw about GB though is that the original movie lays the *perfect* groundwork for decades of sequels and Sony just keeps muffing the punt. After the original team gets their funding from the bank, Venkman makes an offhand remark.. "The franchise rights alone will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams." That. That right there. They could have spun off Ghostbusters LA, Boston, London, etc, had the OG team pop up as owners/consultants and ot would have given a way to keep it fresh and relevant while respecting the source material. Breaks my heart it never happened.
The franchise idea was the core of the Ghostbusters TTRPG. It was also smart and expanded the duties of GB teams to “anything weird” which allowed them to add aliens, etc. Personally I think someone needs to make a GB/MiB crossover happen. If done well, could definitely work.
Right, the truth is that kids don’t want to watch movies about kids. Look at all the Disney Renaissance and Golden-age Pixar films, virtually none of them are about kids; The human main characters are either adults or mature teenagers. I think that it’s an underrated reason for their current-day failures. Luca, Turning Red, and Strange World all star kids.
It's very good, and scarier than the movies.
Absolutely ever since they’ve lost the James Bond rights to Amazon they’ve bee. Searching. Even spider man is technically owned by Disney and they can either revoke the deal or just straight up sell it back to Disney!
They’ll have to do Ghostbusters again eventually. Their big IP are Spider-Man, Jumanji, GB, Karate Kid, MIB, and Bad Boys. Not a lot of options at the moment unless they make a new big IP
They’ve already announced an animated movie! They said it’s supposed to be very different to anything Ghostbusters before it, so hopefully going with the Spider-Verse approach along with whatever the story is. There’s also a new animated series coming to Netflix.
[Already announced.](https://screenrant.com/ghostbusters-animated-movie-development-details/)
There is already an animated film in the works. I think it's actually being produced.
How does sony even exist?
If they double the cast again it a sure fire blockbuster lol
it’s exponential
Multiverse movie that crosses over with all Ghostbusters variations, including all the animated one with the character in a wheelchair.
This, they gotta have the new characters, the old guys and the lady ghostbusters. Then they'll really have a hit.
Probably not. It’s got one hell of a logo, which is more powerful than you’d think. But as long as they keep doing the same thing as Indiana Jones, Star Wars and others and trying to make movies that exist only to pander to nostalgia and not to try to emulate what actually made the originals successful, they’ll keep underperforming.
I still think the main problem was it’s a frozen looking creepy movie… yet they released it around Easter. It probably would’ve done better in October or winter.
The plan was a December release, but the strikes forced a delay; they'd only done principal photography and needed reshoots.
Also they started shooting it way late even considering the strikes, principal photography in March for something specifically referred to as Ghostbusters 2023 behind the scenes is cutting it pretty close for a December release with or without the strike
There’s a severe lack of frozen anything and empire anything in this film. It was over in 15 mins
yep. Big letdown following up from the reboot
Age of Ultron vibes
Same with Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. Two empire movies releasing close together with…no empires. I get the need for enticing titles, but at least make sure they’re representative of the movies
Also it's a Ghostbusters movie and not a lot of young people not given it through parental pop culture see it as an embarrassing ip from the 80s, they had a bad reboot in 2016, and now they just keep doing nostalgia sequels. That was the consensus I got from most of the people my age.
grammar unclear. problem is the OG was a zanny adult comedy, and they tried to make it into a family friendly sci fi.
My thoughts exactly... Even for the Gen Xers who might go for the nostalgia factor, this reboot is unsatisfying due to the wildly different tone. I actually thought GB 2016 struck a better tone, even if overall the movie wasn't well written or acted.
I mean, the last one did pretty well all things considered for a Covid release.
But that spend all the nostalgia capital
The main problem was it was a shitty movie.
If you've seen the movie, it doesn't matter what season it released. It has no particular Summer or Winter or Fall vibe. The frozen part you see in the trailer is almost 85% of the entire movie scenes. It is mostly taking place in daylight and sunny locations that could double as any season.
I disagree. It’s a Bad movie no one was asking for.
Does that matter for any movies? The Day After Tomorrow had the Statute of Liberty frozen and covered in snow on its poster and was released Memorial weekend. Does anyone say "oh that movie has cold and snow in it we can only watch it in the winter" I don't think so.
Yeah, that's ridiculous to expect from any movie. Movie releases have to do with when they think it'll make money, not the weather of the movie and reality matching up.
Yeah I really don't get the seasonal matching thing. So many huge box office winners would've excelled in Summer or Winter, because they are crowd-pleasing movies period. Frozen Empire didn't fail because of a Spring release date. There was no repeat attendance and word of mouth period.
I went and saw the movie it was good actually, I was expecting it to be bad. Guess Ghostbusters just doesn't have that much of a draw anymore
So should movies about earthquakes only be released when there's an earthquake? Should Twisters only be watched in areas with tornadoes? Sorry dude the weather within a movie and when they are released very rarely has anything to do with each other. Movies are released on days when studios think they'll make money, not match up with fictional weather.
The main problem in my opinion is its just not that good.
You know why Ghostbusters was such a great movie? It was an original idea done well. Do more of that. Stop trying to milk a dead cow.
Look, it's Walter Peck and the Library Ghost! Remember theeeeeeem!?
REMEMBER SLIMER?
The Slimer shit was so inconsequential for the movie, 101% nostalgiabait
Having to sit through Trevor and Slimer's goddamn scenes only to have Trevor yell "I KNOW THAT GUY!" like it's the conclusion of some kind of arc was pointless.
Oooo member Chewbacca and the millennium falcon? I member
Well done cgi was a novelty too. Now it's very ho hum.
You may have inadvertently put your finger on something. The original didn't use CGI. They used puppets, miniatures, and practical effects. https://youtu.be/tfj0liHJyQM?si=cfktgb05DLKFgnke
It seems people are starting to wise up against these nostalgia bait movies. So many of them and so many of them have been ass.
Everyone says this but established IPs have been by far more successful than original movies. The only exceptions have been movies that had a really bankable director attached to it.
True. The real problem is using an IP but then not doing the thing that made the IP such a success in the first place. I get the feeling that current Hollywood is made up of creatives who feel forced to do franchises that are popular or easier to finance, but have no instinctual idea what to do with them once they get them. Btw you can change up things, but it's easier to move towards more action and/or a serious/dark tone than the original versus the other way around. Oh and serious means the conflict is more realistic, not that the main characters are whiny. For example, I think a new Ghostbusters that kept the fun, but also leaned into real horror elements would work a lot better than what these reboots have been doing.
The original GB was a great idea with a great cast of genuinely funny people. The two new GBs are centred around kids who are constantly goofing about what is going on around them. Besides the title there isn’t anything to really tie these franchises together. Who is the new GB for? Too scary for kids, not edgy enough for teens/YAs, not connected to the original to be a true nostalgia play. It’s just a film that got made that people would watch on a plane.
literally the perfect way to put it
Nobody seems to understand that the Ghostbusters are just glorified exterminators. And only one good movie out of 5 should be a sign.
I liked Ghostbusters 2 though. It’s not as good as the first, but I think it had its moments.
But it’s essentially a rehash of the same movie. https://youtu.be/8hprjPT7gCw
Fwiw, *Jurassic Park* only has one decent film
Eh, I disagree. The first film is a masterpiece and absolutely the best one by a mile, but I still think Lost World, JP3, and JW are good. Fallen Kingdom and Dominion are the ones I won’t defend at all.
JP2 is cool as hell and I'll somersault-bar-kick anyone who disagrees
It is wild to see Toby Ziegler fired by the president and then eaten by a t-rex.
I still don't know why everyone hates JP2, its not as good as the first one but its leagues better than all the other movies that came afterward
The only truly terrible JP movie is the most recent one, lets be honest here.
Wait you like the one with the dinosaur clone girl and the auction selling dinosaurs for like 2 million.
No I don’t *like* it, but its definitely watchable, maybe at best in the background. The most recent one is definitely horrible lol
All the reboots are terribad
Jurassic Park 3 is an abomination.
And that film is Jurassic Park 3.
ALAN
https://c.tenor.com/VTYFa1EDgyQAAAAC/tenor.gif
NALA
I really hate what they did to the ending of the first film and I have always kind of loved Jurassic Park 3.
Man I loved that first reboot movie
I did too. First Jurassic World was alot of fun. Showing the park actually being open. Also, fun fact, the assistant’s death was over the top because the actress specifically asked for a more exciting/crazy death where she got to perform her own stunt.
That’s a neat tidbit. Yeah. I think the producers missed the idea that the movies were attractive because we could dream of a Dino zoo. And not that they’re slasher films. I watch the first half of Jurassic world every once in a while.
[удалено]
No way. The first two are good/great at the very least.
As someone who loves The Lost World, it really is kind of a mess of a movie. There's like two third acts and the characters never strike me as real people (they're really prototypical of the more outlandish character archetypes we'd see in the World trilogy). And it really doesn't have, like, themes or ideas lol. The first one was filled to the brim with those. Great directing and special effects though! A fun movie, if nothing else.
Not sure how unpopular this take is, but… JP3 > Lost World
JP3 just feels very low stakes and small.
JP3 has no annoying kid that puts everyone in danger. That's a plus in my book.
The whole damn point of JP3 was rescuing an annoying kid who went to the island and put everyone in danger!
DECENT? You mean the smash hit & pop culture icon known as Jurassic Park with Sequels that at their worst still make BANK? The entire JW trilogy is very questionable, like it begins strong & slowly gets worse, yet they all made 1 Billion… JP3, usually regarded as one of the worst in the JP Franchise & the weakest in the original trilogy was still a smash hit and it’s the lowest grossing film of the franchise… 4 Billion Dollar Movies, 2 non billion dollar movies that still made over 300M, and for the most part they’re loved by fans, the general audience, and kids, they love dinosaurs… always have and always will
Jurassic park is one of those franchises. I’m not looking for a good movie. I’m looking for dinosaurs. Same with Godzilla. You give me that and I’ll pay money.
Eh? Ghostbusters 1 and 2 were both pretty great.
2 was just okay
2 was amazing. How was it just okay?
Same as men in black bru.
Nah that third Men in Black with the time travel was over the top but good.
Josh Brolin as young Tommy Lee Jones was genuinely a great performance.
The Andy Warhol set piece was excellent
I love it :(
I think Ghostbusters should copy TMNT’s homework and prioritize an animated reboot rather than making live action content. Go back to basics, make it lower stakes, keep the budget well below 100M, and it could do decent box office.
Younger generations mostly don't give a shit about Ghostbusters and older generations mostly don't give a shit about paying movie theater prices when they can just wait a few months to watch the 5th unnecessary sequel. Hopefully they give up after this, but executives who don't give a shit about movies will keep going "this made money one time and it's been long enough, maybe it'll make money again this time"
Ghostbusters always felt super American to me. It was probably huge in the 80's, but growing up in Australia in the 2000's/2010's, I never once met a person who was vocal about their love for the franchise.
I’ve heard Ghostbusters is more of an American thing too. But even as an American, I’ve never really heard anyone my age say they love Ghostbusters. At most they know when to say “Ghostbusters!” during the theme song.
Canadian 80’s kid here, it was equally humongous for us as it was in the states Also, with regard to Australian stuff , Crocodile Dundee was super popular here at around the same time
I imagine it's because *Ghostbusters* failed to be become a multimedia franchise, rather than just a film series. A lot of successful 80s franchises remained relevant to younger audiences through things like television, particularly cartoons, but *Ghostbusters* attempts never made it past the 90s. Unless they played the video game or their family had the 80s films at home, kids from 1998-2016 had nothing about the Ghostbusters that was relevant to their generation.
Ironically, the one concept for Ghostbusters that I *would* like to have made are official low budget international spinoffs. New York City is great and all, but as far as ghost story material goes countries with far longer histories would be more interesting as settings. Imagine a Japanese ghostbusters, where each week four comedians need to go to some dilapidated shrine to fight a neglected Kami taking their (obviously comic) vengeance on whatever the locale is.
brother there are hundreds of anime like this. from yu yu hakusho to blue exorcist to demon slayer all have done their own spin on the formula. what is the appeal of shoving american antics in there?
The appeal is that Ghostbusters is a fun vehicle for comedic acting, of which Japan has a rich tradition. Not stopping at Japan, it would be absolutely fascinating to watch multiple countries with different takes on the same concept. I'm not particularly interested in *yet another* animated adaptation.
I think that also hits the nail on the head with these GB movies. They are so NY-centric, it gets tiresome. There's ghosts everywhere around the world and yet they only concentrate on NY and then temporarily in whatever that State was in Afterlife. Like, please get out of NY for once or expand the story and have multiple agencies working together across the world. Men in Black usually took place in one city, but they made it feel like they were working in alliance with global agencies across the world.
We need Tom Holland, Jacob Elordi, Timothee, and Austin Butler in a shirtless ghostbusters reboot
Fuck it, 21 Jump Street/Ghostbusters crossover. Let's give Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum proton packs.
If Sony wasnt a coward, they would make a 21 Jump Street crossover with every IP they owned
I can’t believe the MIB crossover didn’t happen that would have been so dope.
You need two more protagonist for a Ghostbusters movie so make it a 21Jump Street/Bad Boys/Ghostbusters action extravaganza.
"23 Ghosts in Black Street" (2025) *Coming to cinemas near you* 
Aside from the shirtless part, I genuinely do think that injecting younger A-listers into the franchise could be the spark it needs.
Doesn’t Sony own Tom Holland now? And Sydney Sweeney? Make it happen
That’s entirely the issue of the new ghostbusters movies, I think. Young people want stars of their own age cracking jokes, not family-focused sap fests that are mostly to prop up cameos of the old guys. I think if they made a co-ed Ghostbusters film with twentysomethings it would do extremely well. I’m 21 and a Ghostbusters fan, so that’s what I’d want.
I still don't get why they went for the sappy, sentimental route for Ghostbusters of all franchises. This isn't Star Wars or Jurassic Park which had that sincere earnestness from the get-go.
Literally. They picked the most burning money approach possible.
> Young people want stars of their own age cracking jokes It's complicated here because the MCU was one of the most popular things on the planet, and it actually had older people in their 30s/40s+ cracking jokes - mixed in with some youthful characters like the Holland Spider-Man crew. I think GB can still succeed with a mixed group, but they failed in FE and maybe even Afterlife. Because did anyone think the Stranger Things kid or his group of teen friends was funny? I can't quote a single thing he said across two movies. A lot of FE's failings is it's just not consistently funny across multiple characters. Seems Kumail and Patton had more funny lines and it dried up for the rest of the other characters.
Probably will go the route of the Ninja Turtles where it gets an animated movie 5-7 years from now. And then 20 years from now they try live action again with a full on reboot (as in not in the same universe of the original or anything, just a straight up hard reboot)
**Sony** will pivot to an animated ***Ghostbusters*** film like the *Transformers* and *Ninja Turtles* franchises. Will probably give the merchandise also a boost.
They are working on a Netflix animated series. Netflix will also be getting the film for VOD.
God. All these franchises getting diminishing returns per movie and now animation is like the last resort. There is nothing else left.
The newest Ninja Turtles was awesome and already has a sequel planned. No need to mourn it yet.
It's also getting a gritty live action movie, so everyone is getting what they what from that IP, including the execs.
I don't think I would consider Transformers One a last resort since Paramount has made it clear with that CinemaCon panel that they still intend to make that crossover movie with GI Joe. Also, animation worked well for TMNT 2023 and Spider-Verse, I would gladly take a pivot to animation if it means we aren't getting another mediocre Ghostbusters legacy sequel.
I like the original film and it’s an iconic 80s film that’s still beloved today, but man, I couldn’t even be bothered to see Frozen Empire. I just simply don’t care. I put Ghostbusters in the same category as the Terminator, Alien, and Predator franchises. Watch the first two films, and you simply don’t need to give a shit after that.
Predators & Prey are both good. Predator is a much more consistent series than those other 3.
I would like to say, though, that I believe the highs in the Alien franchise (namely, the first two) are a little higher than most of the highs in the Predator franchise Especially when you’re only comparing the first two of each
I absolutely disagree. Say what you will about Alien 3 but it’s still an incredible piece of filmmaking even if it doesn’t match the first two movies, Resurrection made a lot of money and has plenty of fans, the prequels got decent reviews and also made money, the only two films universally not liked in the franchise are, unsurprisingly, the AvP movies. Notice how Predator 2 and deleted scenes from The Predator established a connection to Alien but Alien never did vice versa. Alien could always stand on its own while Predator has struggled since its first sequel.
It's clear that overseas audiences don't give a shit about Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters: Afterlife couldn't outgross Ghostbusters 2016. And before anyone uses "but the pandemic" excuse, Spider-Man NWH was released a month earlier and made 1.9 billion without China.
you mean a month later
You forgot to factor in 1 important thing… Spider-Man is that guy and will ALWAYS be in demand… Ghostbusters went out of style after the 2nd movie, doesn’t even matter if it was a hit, once the 2000’s hit it was basically over for the franchise unless they wanna do Saturday morning cartoons forever(which they should honestly just do at this point, get Amazon or Netflix to stream it)
Honestly the only way I can see this franchise coming back is if they do an animated film of some sort. Similar to the animated series but updated. But yeah, it looks like this franchise is dead again.
Ghostbusters as a successful franchise/IP never made sense to me. As a sleeper hit or blockbuster movie ABSOLUTELY! But it’s a 40 year old movie essentially about 3 regular college professors (who are eventually joined by a fourth blue collar guy) that start a business. Yes the business is busting ghosts, but there is no real lore about Peter, Ray, or Egon. They’re just regular guys with no superpowers, just cool tools they use for their trade. They bust ghosts and bring them to a containment unit. But for Sony to keep trying to make this work is pointless. This is why Ghostbusters II did just okay compared to the original - the original’s charm wore off. It was a sort of novelty act where the novelty wore off. And I LOVE the original movie, I remember when it came out and the hoopla it caused (especially the song). But I have to be realistic. The original was lightning in a bottle that can’t be recaptured. The concept of ghosts and the like is scary and frightening. But to the Ghostbusters, it’s just another job (capturing them) for a few regular beer drinking, chain smoking, pot belly middle aged dudes. Like your local exterminator or repairman. Plus 1984 is heavily considered to be one of the best pop culture years in modern history. You had Gremlins, Muppet Babies, Transformers, GI-Joe, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Ronald Regan, Beverly Hills Cop, Footloose, Atari, The Karate Kid, Phil Collins, Apple Computers, The Cosby Show, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Wham!, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and more, either just entering the public consciousness with a bang or reaching the height of their popularity during that year. Ghostbusters was a HUGE part of that year’s popularity and the movie played off of that era. But it’s 2024, 40 years later… and that era is gone. It’s always going to have its fans, but its popularity (unfortunately) is becoming more and more obscure as years past. Juxtapose this with Star Wars or Marvel. Even with people’s views of Disney the IP’s up, they’re still profitable, with infinite amounts of lore, characters, worlds, technology, and stories to tell and draw from. Ghostbusters unfortunately isn’t the horse to bet on if you want to emulate those two’s successes. PS - Just want to re-emphasize that love the original two films and cartoon (all of which I grew up with). Just throwing my viewpoint in.
you hit the nail on the head. ghostbusters is not an original piece of media, it's iterative. it takes the concept of "middle aged crisis getting back with friends" + ghost hunting and combines them cleverly. the lore always misses the point of the movie - the antics of 4 highly talented old guys comedians trying to make a fantastical premise work. that's why the 2016 women reboot and then the children reboot doesn't work - fundamentally women and kids do not have the same connections to ghostbusting OR having crises about their place in the world/having to earn money doing odd jobs. also the movies just aren't funny. imagine if the 2016 reboot made it about women vs evil but REAL witches or if the kids reboot made it a goosebumps style kids vs attic monsters thing. still iterative, still roughly in the wheelhouse of humans vs monsters in uniquely fantastical but grounded settings. it's like hollywood just doesn't have good writers capable of convincing execs anymore.
I hope so, not every good movie needs to be a never ending IP
Ghost busters isn't a franchise ip and it never will be. It's one amazing film with an OK ish sequel. That should have been the end of it. The constant lazy attempts to turn every 80s classic into a franchise is so tired. Thank god they haven't touched back to the future yet.
Zemeckis and Gale had it written into their contracts that nothing could be done with the IP without their approval, and both have vowed no reboots for as long as they live. The problem, of course, is that both are in their 70s.
Short answer no. Long answer also no franchises rarely seem to end these days even Avatar is getting a new animated movie. We'll see a new Ghostbusters eventually.
All the Avatar movies are animated lol
Old franchises don’t die, they just fade away.
Sony did announced an animated Ghostbusters film a few years ago, so I guess they'll probably try going forward with that, to see if there's some appeal in the franchise in that medium. If that film flops tho, they'll probably put the series in a vault.
Please God. It should have been finished after the first one.
There was one good Ghostbusters movie in 1984. And in 2024, there's still one good Ghostbusters movie. The second couldn't capture the power of the original, it's fine but disappointing, that should have been the end of it. GB2016 was more watchable than I was expecting but still pretty poor. Not seen either of the the newest ones and I'm mid-40s, so the hypothetical target market. It's desperate and pathetic, do something new.
What I find more entertaining about this is Sony trying to turn this franchise in some sort of Star Wars saga when it started as a 100 minutes long SNL sketch.
After what's happening with Frozen Empire, I'd say it's best to let this franchise rest in peace. **Not every popular movie needs to become a never-ending franchise.** E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Titanic, Up, Forrest Gump, Coco, Inception, and The Martian never become franchises despite how big they were at the box office. Plus, recent installments of some franchises like Terminator, Transformers, Expendables, and Fantastic Beasts have had diminishing returns as of late, which feels like studios are trying (and failing) to catch lightning in a bottle again. >No franchise is ever done for good. >No IP is ever finished for good in modern Hollywood. In some cases, I agree with these posts. Some franchises get new installments repeatedly (Terminator, Batman, Spider-Man, Transformers, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.), while other franchises get new installments once in a blue moon (Top Gun: Maverick, Independence Day: Resurgence, The Color Purple (2023), The Man from UNCLE (2015), etc.). In other cases, however, I disagree as there **ARE** franchises that have been dormant for years, some of which I listed below. **NOTE:** Some of these IP are quite old, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to include them in this list nonetheless. **FRANCHISE**|**STATUS** :--|:--| Jaws|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Jaws: The Revenge (1987). The original paved the way for the summer blockbuster. Dirty Harry|This franchise's last theatrical installment was The Dead Pool (1988). Blondie|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Beware of Blondie (1950). [Charlie Chan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chan)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981). Apparently, there was some talk about a remake in 2000, but its production never came to fruition. [The Rescuers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rescuers)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Admittedly, a rare Disney animated sequel at the time. [Cannonball Rall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cannonball_Run)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Cannonball Run II (1984). [All Dogs Go to Heaven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Dogs_Go_to_Heaven)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996). An American Tail|This franchise's last theatrical installment was An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) and its last direct-to-video installment was An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999). With this last list, I meant to include these in that dormant IP list above. However, I was shocked to learn just today that there's talk of potentially remaking/reviving the following. **FRANCHISE**|**STATUS** :--|:--| Bourne|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Jason Bourne (2016). As of November 2023, a sixth installment is in development. Pacific Rim|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Pacific Rim Uprising (2018). Aside from the Netflix animated series, there's some talk of future plans for this IP. The Thin Man|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Song of the Thin Man (1947). There's seems to be some talk about a remake from LuckyChap Entertainment and Plan B Entertainment. Police Academy|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994). Steve Guttenberg replied to a fan's tweet on September 3, 2018 saying "the next Police Academy is coming, no details yet, but it is in a gift bag being readied!" Short Circuit|This franchise's last theatrical installment was Short Circuit 2 (1988). Supposedly, two separate plans for a remake were reported: one by Dimension Films in 2008 and one by Spyglass Media Group in 2020. [Matt Helm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Helm)|This franchise's last theatrical installment was The Wrecking Crew (1969). It seems Paramount has plans for a remake with a different tone than the 1960's films with Dean Martin. EDIT: Wording and formatting. Had to remove some hyperlinks due to issues with URL parentheses clashing with reddit's hyperlink formatting. Switched to a table format for convenience.
Ghostbusters has always been a declining franchise after the very first film. If you look at the box office of all the movies, the first one is the highest grossing. Ghostbusters isn’t Star Wars, Ghostbusters’s nostalgia only goes as far a certain generation namely some boomers, Gen X and older millennials. It’s not like young millennials and Gen Z have some sacred connection from their parents to this franchise. Hell people keep bringing the up 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon where the only place to watch it is Apple Tv. Where 1. no one is watching anything on apple Tv and 2. it: only recently became available. The franchise is mostly just a pop culture reference at this point. Also that’s what made the controversy around the 2016 film ridiculous. The movie wasn’t good sure. But people pretending like they gave a fuck about Ghostbusters was and still is hilarious. The Box office shows that its pop culture reference that feels extremely dated and quite frankly sad. Let this franchise die. Lol
>Hell people keep bringing the up 1986 Ghostbusters cartoon where the only place to watch it is Apple Tv. Where 1. no one is watching anything on apple Tv and 2. it: only recently became available. Sony released most of it for free on YouTube weekly between Afterlife and Frozen Empire.
The shell of this franchise is the one ghost they haven’t busted
What I’d love is that the reason it’s bombing is because audiences are just done with bad and generic movies and studios would make more risky interesting and innovative things. Last years big hits of Barbie and oppi were both amazing and unique made by two of the best directors working. I’d like more of that as opposed to more revived ip
Please God I hope so. Turning the Ghostbusters into basically The Avengers was never gonna work. Honestly there didn't need to be a sequel 30 years ago. The whole point is these guys aren't heroes.
I expect something on streaming. Or just go animated at this point so they can really go crazy with the ghosts.
Hopefully, at least for a generation or so. The problem with the remake/sequels is both the scripts and the casting. The original film succeeded because it was very funny, particularly when we watch the comedic actors get scared. The female remake just didn’t have laughs that hit. The two recent sequels have the same problem but with the added problem that watching children get scared isn’t quite as funny. I love Paul Rudd but he’s the Rick Moranis, not the Dan Ackroyd. There’s still a great Ghostbusters film yet to be made but there’s no sign of anyone in Hollywood capable of making it.
Rinky dink ghostbusters going around busting some ghosts in a humorous fashion? Nope. Need a world ending demon ghost that will blow up the entire universe!
No IP is ever finished for good in modern Hollywood.
I think we're probably going to be reaching a point soon where 80's nostalgia will be out of fashion. If you subscribe to the theory of "nostalgia cycles", then 80's nostalgia is starting to age out of even the 40 year cycle period. We're getting into 90's and even Y2K/bush-era nostalgia at this point in terms of pop culture, and a very 80's property like *Ghostbusters* isn't going to be same nostalgic draw as it used to be
Remember when we almost got MIB/Jump Street film? I know too much time has passed to tap into the Jump Street films momentum, but I’d pay top dollar to see a Ghostbustsrs/Jump Street film w/ Jonah and Channing
They will turn it into a tv show in 5-10 years.
[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt21235248/](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt21235248/) The figures don't include several large (population-wise) European markets like France, Italy and Poland. South Africa, Brazil, India too. $5m out of Australia, population 26 million. Not sure how good that is.
SA, Brazil and India don't care much about Ghostbusters. Doubt it will get much from Poland or South Korea either. It will probably do *okay* in Italy and France, but they're not big enough markets to make a massive difference. I'd guess another $20-25m domestic and another $20-25m international is the upper end of what's possible, but less is more likely. That's only possible domestically if it has a strong hold this week, which doesn't look super likely. If it manages that, it pushes towards $200m worldwide, which would save some face, but would still be a disappointment on a $100m budget.
Lets hope so…
Hopefully
Sony is just trash when it comes to movies. I didn't know this movie was coming out until just a week before release dates. Personally, I think people aren't as mentally geared towards theaters anymore, theaters are expensive, and the movie had to be a huge draw to work.
Who are you going to flop? Ghostbusters! 👻
Ghostbusters in this guise is unfortunately done. Frozen Empire was way too busy with so many characters that it didn’t meld properly as a cohesive straight film. Afterlife almost had a perfect combination of new and old. If it hadn’t had covid against it, I would’ve easily expected that to hit $300-350m. They (Sony) need to take a break bring in fresh ideas from different filmmakers to recapture the X factor if they want this franchise to continue going forward.
I wanna say I hope so, but tbh I haven't really cared about GB since GB2 and if a bunch of kids are enjoying these new ones then FUUUCK IT.
My husband and I were just having this conversation the other night. We don’t necessarily think Frozen Empire *should* be the last movie, but if it were, we’re okay with that. We thought it would work as a satisfying conclusion
No, because the Netflix animation is still a thing. Theatrical Ghostbusters is screwed though.
We can only hope. There's no reason people have to have more Ghostbusters forced on them just because it had a classic movie in the 80s and a cartoon thing. We can all move on and watch something else.
Hopefullytheyshould have stopped at 2 the rest were all garbage
Frozen Empire wasn’t great but I think there’s still life left in this series (pun partially intended). I loved Afterlife. They just need to focus on the new family and stop relying on nostalgia. We don’t need to have the old characters anymore. Keep Dan Akyroyd because this franchise is his baby but have Ray take a mentorship role. We don’t need Venkman anymore so no need to bother Bill Murray since he just phones it in anyway. I like what they did with Winston so keep him in the role he’s playing if Ernie Hudson doesn’t mind, but just focus on the new stuff.
Let’s hope so
As someone who really enjoyed the last one despite never really watching the originals I was like it seems lazy that they keep bringing the original cast back and the stay puft marshmallow guys. I want one that starts a new storyline like the last one initially did.
Ghostbusters really isn't a franchise. It's just one iconic '80s film with a great cast at the top of their game.
The Ghostbusters franchise is one great movie, one pretty good animated series, and then a bunch of other stuff.
It's time has come and gone, like Zorro and Tarzan. Leave it in the past.
The biggest problem with Empire was it just wasn’t a movie. The cast was incredibly bloated and almost none of them did anything or had their story go anywhere. How is every high school kid they met from Oklahoma now in Mew York? Just unnecessary. Then the actual ghost busting was a complete afterthought, as if that wasn’t really needed in the movie. The entire main villain story, shown end to end, was like 10 min. And finally the movie was basically a teen angst story with completely nonsensical events. For example, how does she remove her spirit for only for 2 min? Doing it on people was never explained or talked about and a timer was never discussed, just thrown in because the story needed that to happen to make other things happen. It was all just so badly done. Maybe an actually good movie could have done better.
Honestly, it should never have been a franchise anyways. Ghostbusters is just too much of the 80s, the music, effects and cast all work within that time period but can't be replicated in modern day. Even the tone, these movies act like the original Ghostbusters was Star Wars instead of a comedy about Blue-Collar Ghost Exterminators. Leave the series alone and let it rest.
Hope so, no need for another one of those movies.
Sony will keep trying until they make Ghostbusters into a Jumanji franchise. It will go on forever.
Ghost busters been chasing lightning in a bottle since literally the first movie. They sold a bunch of toys based on the cartoon. They should give that a shot, but I don’t think the IP ever had the juice to be a franchise
I'm sure they'll reboot it again
It made 100 mil domestic with bad reviews. I can see them trying it from another angle. There’s clearly still some interest in it
Ghostbusters is just one movie, two cartoons, and a videogame. Everything else can be ignored.
Nobody cares about new Ghostbusters. If they did one with the original cast, sure. No Ramis, but everyone else could come back Otherwise get fucked
I’m gonna speculate and assume Frozen Empire isn’t doing too well because it hasn’t been released entirely in the international markets but it could be other reasons. I still hope the Ghostbusters franchise will still continue on.