Box Office Thread

I'm cautiously optimistic.

Afterlife was trying too hard to nostalgia-bait that I really think this could actually be a movie.

For many, Afterlife was exactly what they wanted after they rejected Answer the Call so harshly. That alone would probably help the box office for Frozen Empire as is if you ask me.

Despite being a huge Ghostbusters nerd, I still haven't seen Afterlife. The whole "Kid Superhero" direction shift is... weird. The rigors of running a small business was always attached directly to Ghostbusting, so the idea of arming child laborers with deadly weapons is difficult for me to swallow.

I remember watching the trailer and seeing them driving the Ecto-1 down a city street while a ten-year-old tore up half the town with a deadly nuclear plasma stream, and thinking, "This is really fucking weird." Like, I guess they're supposed to be Egon's descendants so they have the Divine Right to Ghostbust or some shit. But it's weird, man.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 19th 2024 at 5:22:53 AM

Afterlife to me felt like a story premise that was originally conceived by a 14-year-old fan fiction writer, then revised and rewritten by the same kid who is now an adult filmmaker (note, this is basically true with Jason Reitman). Thus you are getting the whole Kid Hero having an adventure angle but is filtered through more mature storytelling about lost family and broken friendships.

Afterlife isn't flawless but I think it captures a unique tone that made it intriguing rather than a more traditional sequel (compared to the '16 movie that was just a comedy trying to bank on an IP). Frozen Empire is looking to be a more direct continuation of the Ghostbusters lore with as much of original cast together for more of the story, so it will be interesting to see how audiences respond to it.

I'm just waiting for the Perspective Flip that casts Walter Peck as the good guy and the Ghostbusters as clueless techbros.

That right there. While it was definitely about Egon's grandkids and the still living Ghostbusters were barely in it, it still very much felt like that world from the 1984 original where things were irreverent while also getting pretty dark too. While Paul Feig comedies proved successful and effective—though I personally don't care for Bridesmaids actually, aside from Answer the Call already not really being what Ghostbusters is supposed to be also compromised on not being an R like Paul Feig's other comedies before it (though that wouldn't have helped it either since it meant doubling down even more on what was already not the right direction to go).

That's why while getting a fairly positive critical response, it wasn't financially successful. Afterlife recapturing the spirit despite only getting a generally positive critical reaction was what indeed made it successful and that hopefully helps Frozen Empire too.

Edited by futuremoviewriter on Mar 19th 2024 at 7:51:55 AM

Afterlife being cheap is what made it successful.

Answer the Call made $25m more at the box office than Afterlife did and had a 10% higher Tomatoscore, indicating it was better loved by both critics and audiences than Afterlife was. The people who didn't like it better were the bean-counters; Answer the Call cost $144m to make versus Afterlife's $75m, which meant Answer the Call couldn't break even despite outperforming Afterlife in all categories.

Incidentally, with regard to:

Frozen Empire's gonna want to open stronger than that. Afterlife opened to $44m. A $1m increase in opening sales against a $25m budget increase does not bode well - Especially when the first film's final take of $204m can produce a tidy profit on a $75m budget but would barely be considered breaking even on $100m.

Fortunately for the film, these numbers are estimates. They're not set in stone.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 20th 2024 at 1:18:08 PM

Both Afterlife and Frozen Empire set pretty good expectations financially then—the former being pretty realistic specifically. Answer the Call being bigger and setting a higher expectation did mean that it fell harder in being successful as a result too.

I think the biggest change Hollywood has to make, is learning how to make movies on a budget.

The industry at the moment seems to be perpetually stuck in 2019 where six movies made over $1 billion and honestly I can't entirely blame them given that it was the last time everything was "normal".

https://deadline.com/2024/03/box-office-ghostbusters-frozen-empire-1235865730/

Deadline is saying Frozen Empire made $16 Million yesterday and is looking at $42-44 Million for the weekend.

What do we think? Are legs possible?

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Mar 23rd 2024 at 1:31:02 PM

Glad to hear it's off to a good start. Seeing it tonight.

It's not a very good Cinemascore for a four-quadrant crowd-pleaser. It definitely won't do as well as Afterlife, especially with Godzilla X Kong taking some viewers away.

Edited by Prowler on Mar 23rd 2024 at 4:43:43 AM

…B+ is a bad grade?

For a second I thought you meant Godzilla Minus One and I legit thought "WOW THAT MOVIE'S GOT LEGS! "

Edited by AegisP on Mar 23rd 2024 at 3:57:53 AM

It isn't terrible, but it isn't what you want for a movie like this and it's the weakest Cinemascore of any Ghostbusters sequel.

Edited by Prowler on Mar 23rd 2024 at 4:57:50 AM

Cinemascore is like a health code grading. Very rare if you ever see a food business with something lower than A.

Then again, I dont know what audiences are selected to give a cinemascore. Could be random casual or a savvy audience.

Though that depends on the genre. Horror movie getting a B is absolutely fine, first It got a B+ and was a gargantuan success.

In fact, only 8 horror movies have a score of A- or more (and only one is in the "or more" category and it isn't pure horror)

Cinemascore basically operates on a B+ or above scoring system, anything below that is either very niche or just incompetently made. It's done through polling select theater screening, so they are largely capturing audience response the instant the film is over rather than critics who have a week or two to compose their thoughts. Anything B- or below typically indicates some creative choices bound to incite a more hostile response, but you'll have 90+ Rotten Tomato rating with a B Cinemascore.

Metacritic is generally the more precise rating system because they try to account for that nebulous middle range and include it in the stats, so a work that that is 80% mixed, 10% positive and 10% negative tells a different story than a 10/45/45 even though they both land on a 50% score.

It’s also first-night audiences, which will skew towards people fired-up to see the film.

Okay, the movie’s opened at about $45 Million, says Deadline: https://deadline.com/2024/03/box-office-ghostbusters-frozen-empire-1235865730/

That's a pretty strong opening.

It sounds like just barely opened where it was supposed to. No one beside my friend and I were at our 8:40 screening last night.

What's the highest number a movie can open at the box office?