The “Ghostbusters” reboot which debuted in the US and in global theaters on Friday has officially woke up a 32-year dormant franchise with an impressive $44.5 million opening weekend gross at the box office in the US following a Friday gross of $16.5 million, reports Deadline.
The three-day performance is already a record for Director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy but skeptics believe that the movie reboot is off to a mediocre start, saying that any opening below $50 million is not bound to go the distance.
It’s impressive alright but it’s not super impressive. But one thing is sure is that the movie is not a bomb or a box office dude. A box office bomb would only get up to the $20 million range, reveals a production executive.
But Sony Pictures, which has produced the reboot, says that it expects the movie to do well when it makes it overseas.
The rule that goes with American film comedies is that when they make as much money in the domestic as much as in the overseas box office, that is as good as it gets.
An anomaly in its day
When “Ghostbusters” reboot opened in cinemas this weekend, it went up against the World War II comedy “1941” produced by Steven Spielberg starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.
However, the Spielberg film only got $31M, making “Ghostbusters” an anomaly in its day, taking comedies to a whole other level at the box office and with the masses.
An analyst Roger Ebert said that “Ghostbusters” is an exception to the general rule that big special effects can wreck a comedy. He added that “Ghostbusters” is the funny combination of two types of movies that usually don’t work well together.
“Ghostbusters” reboot is a big budget special effects picture with lots of sensational, earth-shaking effects on it, and it is also a very funny movie to listen to because of the sly and understated dialogue.
Something strange in the theaters
Some critics also believe that “Ghostbusters” is not only strange but also great at the box-office, notes the USA Today.
Melissa McCarthy is already given in comedies, but the more impressive performance in the movie actually came from Kate McKinnon, who was described by critics as amazing in the film.
One of those who were impressed with the “Ghostbusters” reboot is Ivan Reitman, director of the original “Ghostbusters” movie shown in 1984 and its sequel and now the executive producer of the reboot, reports Fortune.
Movie reboots are often controversial and the all-female remake of “Ghostbusters” was no exception. As a matter of fact, the movie’s first trailer became the most disliked film trailer in the history of YouTube.
Reitman said that they sensed that there would be problems as soon as the movie was announced that they are going to use women Ghostbusters.
However, the remake took on the controversy in a humorous scene that has the female Ghostbusters reading some hate mail online.
Reitman said that the scene was well laid out in the original screenplay before they even started shooting. He explained that it is not a reaction to the negativity that was generated by the first trailer.
The executive producer also blamed the negativity on super fans’ love for the first movie. He explained that there was just an enormous amount of love and protectiveness to the first movie.
He explained that it was seen by many men in their 40s when they were about eight or nine years old then and it was a seminal film experience that they took to heart. Those fans just wanted to make sure that they were not ripping anyone off, Reitman added.
Sony Pictures reportedly shelled out $144 million to make the “Ghostbusters” reboot and Reitman is confident that the movie could easily eclipse its production budget in a week’s time or two.