Things are turning around for blockbusters – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire just burst onto the scene with an impressive opening weekend, grossing $45.2 million at the U.S. box office and pushing the Ghostbusters franchise into the very exclusive billion dollar club.
While 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife helped the franchise regain a solid footing among old and new fans after the disastrous 2016 reboot, it did receive criticism for leveraging nostalgia and tugging at heartstrings due to the absence of Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler), who passed away before the movie had been made. Could the new chapter in the Ghostbusters franchise keep the momentum going?
Directed by Gil Kenan and produced by Jason Reitman, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire serves as a direct sequel to the 2021 film ‘Afterlife’. It reunites the original Ghostbusters with the descendants of Egon Spengler to defend New York City against a new supernatural threat, continuing the story of the iconic scifi-horror-comedy franchise.
Weekend Box Office Estimates: #Ghostbusters $45.2M #DunePartTwo $17.6M #KungFuPanda4 $16.7M https://t.co/w7dgn4ZAfY pic.twitter.com/gLsUASZ0Ss
— Box Office Mojo (@boxofficemojo) March 24, 2024
There are certainly still elements of nostalgia factored into the new film. This goes beyond the live action films, as there are callbacks to elements from the popular animated series The Real Ghostbusters.
For instance, Janine (Annie Potts) finally gets to suit up as one of the Ghostbusters with Ray (Dan Aykroyd), Winston (Ernie Hudson), and Peter (Bill Murray), while Slimer has more involvement than in previous films. Still, there seems to be enough of a balance to keep the Ghostbusters fans happy.
Audience reaction has been notably favorable, with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire receiving an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark contrast to its critic score of 44%. This discrepancy positions it as the lowest-rated installment among critics within the franchise’s five-movie history, yet audiences have embraced it with enthusiasm.
Audience reactions on Rotten Tomatoes, though subject to change with additional reviews, currently reflect a positive trend reaching an 87% audience score dropping to its current 85%, unsurprisingly surpassing the lower critic rating. This indicates that Frozen Empire has struck a chord with viewers, positioning it favorably among the franchise’s better offerings such as the 1984 original and 2021’s Afterlife.
While it’s too early to definitively gauge its standing among audiences compared to previous installments, the strong initial reception suggests promising box office potential. Despite early critical reservations, the film’s audience score may pave the way for positive word-of-mouth and sustained success in the weeks to come.
The film’s opening weekend success is particularly notable given earlier concerns from exhibitors, who feared a lower turnout. However, strong marketing efforts by Sony with tie-ins and cross-promotions like Roblox, Destiny 2, and Cheetos helped secure a solid debut, surpassing initial predictions and reassuring the studio of the franchise’s enduring popularity.
The $45.2 million domestic opening of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire contributed enouh to the franchise’s overall earnings to push it beyond the $1 billion milestone. It seems like the franchise should have been there already with all of the films, TV shows, comic books, and video games based on the Ghostbusters IP – but the lackluster results of the 2016 all-female reboot that nearly killed the Ghostbusters brand certainly did it no favors.
The reported U.S. ticket sales are comparable to Afterlife‘s $44 million opening during pandemic conditions in 2021. Internationally, the film added $16.4 million, resulting in a global opening weekend of $61.6 million against a reported $100 million production budget.
As Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire continues its theatrical run, audiences are invited to experience the latest chapter in the iconic franchise and discover for themselves the thrills and adventures of the blue collar undead exterminators.
Will this installment live up to its predecessors and secure its place as a fan favorite? If you have seen Frozen Empire, what did you think of the film and where Sony’s supernatural franchise is heading?
