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Ghostbusters reboot scares up spin-off

Sequel to an inferior remake of a film that was lousy to begin with already in the works

Forget Marvel and DC. It’s time the inventive minds at Sony teamed with Harvey Comics for Casper the Friendly Ghostbuster.
Forget Marvel and DC. It’s time the inventive minds at Sony teamed with Harvey Comics for Casper the Friendly Ghostbuster.
Movie

Ghostbusters *

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With their best days residing down memory lane, producers Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd resort to recycling their own garbage. Fanboys were outraged and feminists thrilled over news of an all-girl remake of the alleged comedy classic. Credit the filmmakers with neither group leaving hungry. A pussy fart joke replaces the traditional fart joke and the role of a stereotypical dumb blonde secretary is played by a guy (Chris Hemsworth). Loathe though I am to say anything even remotely positive about the original, at least the boys had chemistry. Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig bicker, leaving ample room for overmodulation from Leslie Jones. The whole shebang, what little there is of it, belongs to Kate McKinnon, and it’s not just the Tank Girl duds and Woody Woodpecker pompadour doing the acting. Her ever-in-the-moment background work, not the impersonal CG slop hack director Paul Feig puts before us, deserves an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

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I ain’t afraid of no sequels, so long as they are not sequels to inferior remakes of films that were lousy to begin with.

The all-girl, effects-powered reboot of Ghostbusters cost producers — among them Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, the respective producer/director and co-writer/star of the 1984 original — $150 million to bring to the screen. Then average in the cost of advertising and a film needs to take in two-and-a-half times its budget in order to break even, in this case $450 million. (According to The Playlist, director Paul Feig “has gone on record saying the movie needs to do at least $500 million worldwide.”)

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At this point, they’re a little under one-tenth of the way to Profitsville. The film fell just short of its projected $50 million opening weekend take, earning $46 million and placing second in the top ten behind Universal Studio’s animated, The Secret Life of Pets.

In spite of the slight underperformance, and audiences who this summer sent Hollywood a deafening message by steering clear of many of the studio’s purportedly pre-sold franchise pictures, there will be a sequel.

Video:

Ghostbusters trailer

Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony, told The Wrap, “The Ghostbusters world is alive and well. While a sequel has yet to be officially announced, there’s no doubt in my mind it will happen.”

It ain’t over until the Chinese coffers sing. According to The Playlist, Chinese censors have yet to be presented with a copy of the film. Sony is spooked by China’s answer to the Hays Office and its nasty habit of banning pictures that depict the supernatural.

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A history of the house on the hill at Ivanhoe Ranch

From Apolinaria Lorenzana to Jane Goodall
Forget Marvel and DC. It’s time the inventive minds at Sony teamed with Harvey Comics for Casper the Friendly Ghostbuster.
Forget Marvel and DC. It’s time the inventive minds at Sony teamed with Harvey Comics for Casper the Friendly Ghostbuster.
Movie

Ghostbusters *

thumbnail

With their best days residing down memory lane, producers Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd resort to recycling their own garbage. Fanboys were outraged and feminists thrilled over news of an all-girl remake of the alleged comedy classic. Credit the filmmakers with neither group leaving hungry. A pussy fart joke replaces the traditional fart joke and the role of a stereotypical dumb blonde secretary is played by a guy (Chris Hemsworth). Loathe though I am to say anything even remotely positive about the original, at least the boys had chemistry. Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig bicker, leaving ample room for overmodulation from Leslie Jones. The whole shebang, what little there is of it, belongs to Kate McKinnon, and it’s not just the Tank Girl duds and Woody Woodpecker pompadour doing the acting. Her ever-in-the-moment background work, not the impersonal CG slop hack director Paul Feig puts before us, deserves an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

Find showtimes

I ain’t afraid of no sequels, so long as they are not sequels to inferior remakes of films that were lousy to begin with.

The all-girl, effects-powered reboot of Ghostbusters cost producers — among them Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, the respective producer/director and co-writer/star of the 1984 original — $150 million to bring to the screen. Then average in the cost of advertising and a film needs to take in two-and-a-half times its budget in order to break even, in this case $450 million. (According to The Playlist, director Paul Feig “has gone on record saying the movie needs to do at least $500 million worldwide.”)

Sponsored
Sponsored

At this point, they’re a little under one-tenth of the way to Profitsville. The film fell just short of its projected $50 million opening weekend take, earning $46 million and placing second in the top ten behind Universal Studio’s animated, The Secret Life of Pets.

In spite of the slight underperformance, and audiences who this summer sent Hollywood a deafening message by steering clear of many of the studio’s purportedly pre-sold franchise pictures, there will be a sequel.

Video:

Ghostbusters trailer

Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony, told The Wrap, “The Ghostbusters world is alive and well. While a sequel has yet to be officially announced, there’s no doubt in my mind it will happen.”

It ain’t over until the Chinese coffers sing. According to The Playlist, Chinese censors have yet to be presented with a copy of the film. Sony is spooked by China’s answer to the Hays Office and its nasty habit of banning pictures that depict the supernatural.

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The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader writer fends off attacks on Encinitas cliff story

Says each letter writer takes on only part of the article
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Bob Long played piano for Tina Turner and Ray Charles

And he got the crowd shaking at InZane Brewery
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