Ghostbusters reboot scares up spin-off

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.”)

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.

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.