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Pre-Release Theories
This movie is a Stealth Sequel to Ghostbusters II.
- Averted. This movie has been confirmed to be a reboot. Furthermore, although original cast members will appear, not only are they just cameos but they're playing different characters in the original movie.
This movie will end up becoming a Creator Killer for Columbia Pictures, or it'll set the company back in a major way.
...At least as far as it being a subdivision of Sony Entertainment goes. Given that the movie is set to flop pretty badly and that Sony's finances (outside of their PlayStation 4 sales) are in dire straits, it seems likely that the company could be sold as a way to cover the losses on the film and on the Ghost Corps subdivision as a whole (since the toys are selling badly). Disney would be the most likely buyer if the subdivision files for bankruptcy. Alternately, it'll just end up being another financial flop for the company and they'll have to restructure themselves yet again.The cameos of those in the original film in the reboot will have a Passing the Torch meaning to them.
The actors will be brought back to do some sort of way of acknowledging the newer team. It won't be as the characters from the previous film but little nudges. I think maybe the cameos will be in selling the team their equipment. Perhaps Ernie Hudson sells them the Echo-1 and Annie Potts will sell them their base of operation. Maybe Dan Aykroyd suggest an idea for the Proton Packs and Bill Murray comments about them needing uniforms.- Alternatively they will all die horrible and embarrassing deaths as a Take That! at the fans of the original who were complaining about the new movie.
- Played with. The cameo characters all have shades of their original character (Murray's a skeptic like he was at the start of the original, Hudson is Patty's uncle, Aykroyd knows a lot about ghosts for a cabbie, Potts is an angry receptionist and Weaver... has big hair, but they're mostly there for gags and inside jokes, not really a passing-the-torch thing. Murray's character DOES nearly die a very embarrassing death, however.
Patty's Uncle is Winston
- He is played by Ernie Hudson, but he isn't the same character.
This movie will bomb and/or get a bad rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
Confirmed, even though it's still sitting at 73% with generally positive reviews.- I'm assuming that rating was gathered with a cursory look at the "All Critics" tab on opening day. Three days later, Ghostbusters 2016 when checked on the "Top Critics" tab rate it at 57% with a Average Rating of 6.3/10 from 47 reviews counted (Fresh: 27, Rotten: 20). The audience giving it 57% as well with Average Rating of 3.1/5 from 84,167 Rotten Tomatoes users. As for generally positive reviews? The film has only been out for three days at the time of this writing and a good amount of the reviews being given are ranging from "Meh" and "Mediocre" with the odd "Best Film EVAR!!" to enraged (see Angry Joe's review).
- It is worth noting the audience score was originally 44% at 77,000 reviews before the film was even out on opening day. It's actually increased 13% since the film's official opening. Likewise, the IMD score was initially 3.1/10 before release and has increased 2 points since then. Meanwhile, for critic reviews, a fair amount of reviews also go beyond "meh" and "mediocre" to "enjoyable but could be better" and otherwise.
- As for box-office, initial predictions from Sony was for a $30 million opening weekend in the US/Canada, and it actually took in about $46 mill. It opened at #1 in the UK, Australia and Brazil, and #2 (behind Secret Life of Pets) domestically.
- The initial predictions are worth noting cause Sony lowered it from $40-50 million, which it made. Maybe Sony was playing it safe, but other studios normally stick with their initial predictions. Not to mention it's looking very iffy if it will make the money necessary to be successful, as making $46 million opening weekend on a film costing $144 million is not a good showing for any big budget film these days.
- FWIW according to Box Office Mojo
, as of 27 July 2016 the movie had made a combined domestic and international total of $122,430,923 — in other words, around 85% of its budget. That's not exactly a box office smash, true, but it's not quite a bomb either (or, at least, not quite the bomb I suspect the OP was suggesting it would be), particularly since it's still in many cinemas so will probably rake in a bit more until it finally gets pulled. Many movies which underperform at the box-office also go on to make a profit, or at least break even, when profits from DVD and Blu-Ray sales, licensing, and so forth are factored in, and it seems likely that Ghostbusters will probably benefit from that as well. Furthermore, if this is to be believed, Sony overall seems happy enough with its performance — or, at least, did after the opening weekend discussed above. In short, while it hasn't exactly set the world alight and could probably have done much better, the movie's probably not going to be the critical and commercial disaster that its more passionate detractors were hoping for either. - Yes, FWIW, Ghostbusters 2016 has earned about 85% of its' production budget so far. And other then the $144 million Sony stated it cost to make the film, they've been very tight lipped about how much the total cost was, as Tom Rothman (Deadpool's biggest real life foe) wouldn't say when asked in interviews. Sony is still in damage control and trying to show a strong hand in the publics eye. But Paul Feig wasn't as tight lipped on that subject. In a interview with Jada Yuan for Vulture.Com [1], Feig stated “A movie like this has to at least get to like $500 million worldwide, and that’s probably low.” With the figures from Box Office Mojo provided and Feig's blurting out of that total, Ghostbusters 2016 chances of breaking even are looking very slim since Feig has pretty much said the film cost $250 million total to make. The OP wasn't suggesting the film is a bomb. They were saying it's bombing given the lackluster opening weekend and the (at the time) upcoming films the following week.
- The film also isn't performing well overseas either; as of July 31st it's only made $51.7 million with only 7 left to open (not to mention that it's been Banned in China, the box office powerhouse of the world). That means that unless the film catches fire in one of the remaining territories, such as Japan, the film will probably barely squeak past $100 million overseas. Combine that with the total domestic gross which will likely end up at around $120-125 million and you have a film that is doing poorly considering its high budget of $144 million (not including marketing) and the fact that it is intended to kickstart a new franchise. Not a Fant4stic level bomb, but still a box office dud that could very easily send this incarnation of the team back to their graves and make it likely that Paul Feig will not be given the keys to a big budget studio film again.
That's not Rowan possessing Kevin. That's Loki
- He's screwing over New York City a second time of his own free will but casting an illusion of his brother's face so Thor earns the wrath of untold whiny millions instead of him. Why? For the Lulz probably. It's Loki!
- This explains his startling lack of sense and incompetence; he's trolling the new ghostbusters and is laughing his ass off on the inside.
Post-Release Theories
Kevin IS really Thor and is the only one responsible of Ghostbusters successes
- The team doesn't look, speak nor act in the scientist manner than the original team did, they lick radioactive weapons, and Abby start doing cartwheels in the middle of the movie. This would be a miracle. The kind of miracle that would need a god. The god of thunder, maybe? Part of his dimwitted acts are Obfuscating Stupidity and some more are being a Fish out of Temporal Water.
The sequel will have this team joining forces with the original team.
People keep forgetting: the original concept for this franchise involved the Ghostbusters dimension-hopping so that they could stop ghosts in every universe. The cameos from this film were alternate-universe counterparts of the original team who never became Ghostbusters (only Bill Murray's character was named, and it could have been a stage name, and we'll find out that Patty's mother's maiden name was Zeddemore). The film will end with cameos by basically every popular comedian currently alive as alternate-universe Ghostbusters from one world or another.- Also, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will be a pair of Ghostbusters in a gay relationship. The movie will set this up to be a joke, and then...not make a joke about it...they're two heroic protectors of the world who are also dating... The fact that it's not being made into a joke will be extensively lampshaded for humorous effect.
The sequel will have the Busters working as entertainers at a kid's birthday party like the originals once did in their second movie.
They'll sing their theme song and, once the kids are given the cue to answer "Ghostbusters!", they'll instead call for someone else. Probably "SheRa!" to give a nod to the whole "Distaff Counterpart" of the kids in the original sequel yelling 'He-Man!'- well they bought She-Ra back
Patty has a graduate degree. In history.
Patty knows things about the city's history that are extremely obscure. What she hasn't told the others (since they're all physicists and don't have as much in common with her academically as they otherwise might) is that she has a Ph.D in history, and she's working for the MTA because she quit her university in disgust after they refused to fund her study of the paranormal history of New York City.- Alternatively, she works for the MTA because it's all she can get. It can be tough for humanities graduates out there in the non-academic world...
The Chinese Restaurant Delivery Guy ate all the Won Tons in Abby's soup
Explaining why they never get her order right, and why it takes a while to deliver them when they move to the loft of the restaurant. He later switched to drinking the soup. Extreme bursts of ghost sightings / activity cause amnesia / the original movies are still kinda in continuity
And only some people can shake it off. Obvious victims can't (See also Louis Tully in Ghostbusters, and Dr. Janosz). This would explain why lots of people in Ghostbusters II are Ghost truthers and don't believe what happened in the first film was legit.Now, several decades later, the original team had lost theirs along the way as well (all perhaps becoming John Does) Egon became a professor (and later passed away), Peter became very cynical but still involved with parapsychology, Ray ended up bad and became a cabbie and Winston probably doesn't even remember being hired for a random team in a firestation. This is why Slimer exists, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man float, the "logo" is around, and most of all Zuul- As an addition, Rowan's plan only worked in the first place because the events of the last two films, still being relatively recent in the grand scheme of things, had severely weakened the resistance of the local ley lines, allowing the easier creation of a vortex.
This movie is the "nearest convenient parallel dimension" to the original
This is why so many details about the new Ghostbusters conveniently parallel the originals (coveralls, neutrona wands and backpacks, "No Ghost" logo, Ecto-1 converted hearse), why there are Doppelgängers for Venkman, Stantz, Spengler, Zeddemore, Melnitz, and Barrett, and why there is something called "Zuul" coming. It's the same Zuul
Not as in a version of the same character, but the actual original one from the first Ghostbusters. And same with Vinz Clortho, and most importantly, Gozer. I.e., there's Gozer's dimension, the 1984 dimension, and the 2016 dimension, all in the same multiverse. In the 1984 Ghostbusters, Gozer managed to almost get into their dimension from his dimension because a building was built, by a cult and a madman, to attract spiritual energy. The parallel dimension of the 2016 Ghostbusters never had that building built, however, some idiot named Rowan just accidentally did exactly the same thing. Gozer, stuck in his own dimension since 1984, noticed that, and realized he could now get out in their dimension, and has sent Zuul.- In fact, if we want to explain the similarities, via the previous WMG, maybe the 2016 dimension is the original one, and the 1984 dimension is the result of Gozer tampering, in the twenties, to get Ivo Shandor to build 55 Central Park West. Until that point, they were the same universe, and they're still linked psychically in some manner.
Uncle Bill and Rebecca Gorrin will return in the sequel, and have larger roles.
Both characters have a personal connection with one of the characters (Bill is Patty's uncle, and Rebecca is Jillian's mentor). It seems plausible they'd turn up with more to do in a second film. Plus, who wouldn't want to see more of Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver? Martin Heiss survived his fall.
Confirmed by All There in the Manual (as discussed on the main page). But even in the context of the film itself, he must have survived and been conscious after his fall for the Ghostbusters not to have been arrested (or at least under serious investigation) for throwing him out of the window.
- Anti-confirmed actually. He seems to have not realized it yet, but he writes the new foreword and the notes on the second edition mention that it includes "a new foreword by an actual ghost".
People will start naming their dogs Mike Hat
Admit it, it's a great way to mess with people's heads with a dog named "Mike Hat". Erin is a latent psychic
But she disregarded her "awakening" when she turned from the paranormal. However, she's still somewhat "sensitive" and a bit of a ghost magnet, which is why that neighbor of hers haunted her for an entire year, why she became so manic after catching that one ghost and actually kissed the container a few times, and why she keeps on getting slimed. The slime is attracted to Erin due to negativity.
In Ghostbusters II, the slime was attracted to, generated by and powered through negative feelings and impulses. Assuming it works the same or in a similar fashion in the reboot, of the four Ghostbusters, Erin is the one with the most negative self-image of herself — she's consistently shown to lack self-confidence and self-esteem and being overly reliant on other people's opinions and approval of her. Hence, the slime 'targets' her because it's drawn to that negativity.- That would explain why the slime missed during the big battle in the climax (as Erin lampshades); she had shed enough negativity towards herself by that point of the film to no longer attract it.
Holtz and Erin will eventually become an Official Couple.
Holtz is flirting with everybody, but seems pretty fixated on Erin the majority of the film and the Extended Cut has her claim they're dating. The sequel will feature them realize their feelings, but a second sequel will have them actually become the Official Couple. Kinda like Han and Leia in the Original Trilogy. The story will continue in a non-film format.
Thanks to the controversy and the disappointing box office returns, this iteration of the team will continue on in a comic or novel or something. The ghost at the rock festival was literally Satan.
Rock'n'roll really does attract the devil. This movie takes place in a parallel universe where the original ghostbusters never met.
They do exist in this universe, but their names, personalities, and careers are completely different. In other words, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murry, and Dan Aykroyd were actually playing alternate versions of the original Ghostbusters in this world. Erin is actually Maggie Mayhem.
It's why she's always wearing long sleeves (Maggie's tattoos only go down to her elbows). We never learn Maggie's street name, and she's the right age (in Whip It, set in the mid-2000s) to be taking some time between undergrad and grad school. And also a contributing factor to her uptightness in the mid-2010s Ghostbusters: She's new enough to academia that she's already feeling out of place between her childhood ghost encounters and the fact that she's got a son in the first couple of years of college himself.
