I ain't afraid of no ghost, but I was certainly afraid that the new Jason Reitman film, Ghostbusters Afterlife, would fall flat at the box office. After 37 years, would there still be a big enough audience to carry this franchise to a win, especially after the poorly received 2016 Ghostbusters, directed by Paul Feig.
Well, fans of the beloved franchise came out in droves and scored Ghostbusters Afterlife an impressive $44mil opening weekend, and they're just getting started.
The film, which was only estimated to take in around $30mil opening weekend, still has a relatively wide-open Thanksgiving weekend to look forward to and expects to experience minimal drop-off as it is one of the few "genre" films to be in theaters that weekend.
While $44 million is slightly less than its 2016 predecessor, which opened to $46mil, it is important to note the huge gap in the two film's production costs. The Paul Feig Ghostbusters had a production budget of around $144 million, while Afterlife only cost $75 million to make. These numbers mean great things for the new film and we can expect to see this film turn a nice profit for Sony and Columbia Pictures.
So, what does this mean for a possible continuation of the franchise? All signs point to yes, as it's clear that the studio still has franchise fans are on board for and with the stellar new cast which includes recently named "Sexiest Man Alive", Paul Rudd at the helm, surely they have one more up their sleeve.
SPOILERS NOW: Regarding the post-credit scenes featuring Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson, is it possible that "Afterlife 2" may bring us back to New York and continue the story of our original team of Ghostbusters? Was Winston referring to Rick Moranis when he said, "I started this company with one employee..."? Sound off in the comment section and let us know what you think.
