Sony can finally breath easy. For a second or two. It appears that the newGhostbustersremake will not be a bomb as many expected. The movie’s opening day box office has set a new record for both starMelissa McCarthyand Director Paul Feig. But that might not be good enough for what the studio considers one of its tentpole titles. An umbrella they plan to make movies under for infinity. Perhaps that won’t happen quite as planned.
Sony and Village Roadshow are now predicting a $46.5 million opening weekend for thisnew Ghostbusters, which also stars comedy heavyweight Kristen Wiig along with first time feature film headliners Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. The movie pulled in $16.9 million on Friday, winning that day at the box office. If the movie does, in fact, pull in what is expected, it will easily beat Feig and McCarthy’s current highest opening weekend gross of $39.1 million, which came with 2013’s The Heat, which had the added star power of Sandra Bullock.
TheGhostbustersbudget is projected to be $144 million byDeadline, after rebates and before an additional $100 million+ in global marketing. Rivals speculating onGhostbusters' box office claim that anything that falls within the $40 million range should be considered mediocre at best for thesummer blockbuster. Pulling ahead of $50 million is considered safer for the franchise restarter. But one non-Sony executive had these encouraging words.
“It’s not abomb. A bomb would be an opening in the $20M range. However, a start such as this really puts more pressure on overseas delivering.”
One problemGhostbusterscould be facing is the fact that it won’t open in China. At least not right now, and the country served as a saving grace for the lackluster debut of other recent franchise rebootTerminator Genysis. The globalGhostbustersrelease is staggered, with English speaking countries getting it this weekend alongside Brazil. Russia and Japan will be bestowed with thesupernatural comedytwo weeks from now. The global box office not being what it is today back in 1984, the originalGhostbustersdidn’t have much of a presence overseas. And none of Feig or McCarthy’s past comedies have generated big box office outside of the U.S.
Sony is said to be quite happy with the opening day box office, and the fact that the movie is heading towards a mid-$40 weekend. And it’s still early, when the dust settles on Monday morning, it’s still possible that the movie will have pulled in north of $50 million.Ghostbusterscurrently has an A- CinemaScore with the under 25 crowd, generating a B+ with all general audiences. This is the same grade bestowed upon Feig’sBridesmaidsandSpy. The movie has also generated a 73% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This helped raise opening day numbers, which were original speculated to hit at just north of $30 million.
Also inGhostbusters' favor is that it was the only major wide release this weekend, going up against last weekend’s surprise hitThe Secret Life of Pets. As it stands, many are speculating that this newGhostbusterscould end its theatrical run with north of $150 million, which will make it a substantialwin for Sony. And it definitely means we’ll be seeing more of the ladyGhostbustersin the future.
