The Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Failure Thread
POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Sunday, June 9, 2024 01:20
VIEWED: 5121
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As a fan of the franchise since childhood, I hate saying it... But without even seeing a production budget listed anywhere yet, I'm almost 100% sure this is going to be Sony's next big failure in 2024 after Madame Web.
Dune: Part 2 cost $190 Million. Argylle cost $200 Million. Universal's upcoming Twisters cost $200 Million. Though it's true that Sony only paid $80 Million to make Madame Web (allegedly), there wasn't much in the way of special effects on that one and you can't have a Ghostbusters movie without plenty of budget for those.
Ghostbusters (2016) was unarguably a huge mistake for the franchise, but it was hardly the only one. Even Ghostbusters II from 1989 was a pale imitation of the original movie. But at least the reason they did that was understandable. They didn't make the original movie for children, but by the time the 2nd movie was being produced it had already become a post-He-Man and pre-Ninja-Turtles cultural phenomena among children. I'm sure I wasn't alone when my old man let me watch Ghostbusters with him and my younger brothers when I was only 5 years old even though it was very much an adult comedy at the time. And that led to the insanely popular cartoon that ran in syndication after school for YEARS both leading up to and well after the 2nd movie had been made, all while selling so many toys it makes Disney and Hasbro of the 2020's wish for the good old days.
So they heavily nurfed the sequel. Most of the adult humor was gone. There was still enough subtle humor in it that adults wouldn't completely groan while taking their now older kids to watch it, but part of the original magic was gone. Even my 10 year old brain knew that to be the case by the time I walked out of the theater after seeing it.
And after that, time just passed and Ghostbusters became nothing more than a good memory of childhood. I don't think anybody who was there and enjoying that moment grew up longing for any more Ghostbusters stuff to be made. If we ever wanted to, we could just go back and watch the original movies and when the series came out on DVD we could watch those if we wanted to. But even by that time we already had things like Adult Swim on cartoon network and subversive Anime translations hitting the large retailers at affordable prices instead of the super-expensive imports that you'd find in malls at shops like Sam Goody or fye. As good as Ghostbusters the cartoon was at the time, it was really just a kid's cartoon... especially after the 1st season and the studio meddling. If you were a 20 something going on 30 something and still watched cartoons, there was a lot of stuff out there that was geared much more toward your current demographic than your childhood favorites.
Decades went by and Bill Murray (probably wisely so) just wouldn't let a 3rd Ghostbusters movie take place before Harold Ramis died.
And then 2016 happened. And hoo-boy, did that get blown far out of proportion by everybody.
I watched that movie. In fact, it's the last Ghostbusters property I've ever seen, and the only one I've watched in the last 15 or more years. It was exactly what I expected it would be. It was completely adequate for your standard Hollywood nostalgia-bait cash-grab. It was totally meh.
And honestly, the only reason I even bothered watching it is because it was SO culturally significant in 2016 that not only did everybody have their opinions on it one way or another whether they even bothered to watch it or not, but Hilary Clinton even used it as a plug in her Presidential campaign by meeting with the cast on one of those talk shows (maybe Ellen?), dressed up in a Ghostbusters jump suit and all.
I just had to see how bad this thing really was. And I was so disappointed by it. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. It was just cynical is all. It's nothing that would ever reach a cult-like status 20 years from now because it was simply misunderstood at the time or because it was
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I'm hoping the film does well, they're trying to fix the mess from the 2016 flick. The trailer for 'Afterlife' was very good, the one for 'Frozen Empire' did seem that great. If it stinks the fan base will be sure to let us know.
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I plan to see it. I look forward to it, based upon the cast.
I don't have the impression it will fail. Afterlife did have a story to it.
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Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
I'm hoping the film does well, they're trying to fix the mess from the 2016 flick. The trailer for 'Afterlife' was very good, the one for 'Frozen Empire' did seem that great. If it stinks the fan base will be sure to let us know.
I'm hoping it does well too, but I'm not going to see it. I didn't have any interest in Afterlife either, and I probably won't ever see that unless I'm out somewhere and somebody else wants to watch it for some reason.
I just don't think that it is going to make any money, for the budget reasons I stated above. If this thing cost any more than $100 Million to make I don't think the outlook is very good.
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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.
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Quote:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
I'm hoping the film does well, they're trying to fix the mess from the 2016 flick. The trailer for 'Afterlife' was very good, the one for 'Frozen Empire' did seem that great. If it stinks the fan base will be sure to let us know.
I'm hoping it does well too, but I'm not going to see it. I didn't have any interest in Afterlife either, and I probably won't ever see that unless I'm out somewhere and somebody else wants to watch it for some reason.
I just don't think that it is going to make any money, for the budget reasons I stated above. If this thing cost any more than $100 Million to make I don't think the outlook is very good.
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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.
You should check out 'Afterlife', the end will bring happy tears to your eyes, you may forget about that abortion they made in 2016. Plus if this flick does well it'll piss off everyone who had anything to do with the 2016 flick, like the whiny bitches who stared in it.
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Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
You should check out 'Afterlife', the end will bring happy tears to your eyes,
Ehhhh... maybe I will.
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you may forget about that abortion they made in 2016.
Oh, trust me. Already long forgotten.
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Plus if this flick does well it'll piss off everyone who had anything to do with the 2016 flick, like the whiny bitches who stared in it.
That's always a fun time.
BTW... Anybody seen Paul Fieg around?
I don't think I've heard from that dude in at least 7 years now.
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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.
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4 movies that will probably flop in 2024
https://bamsmackpow.com/2023/12/05/movies-that-will-probably-flop-at-t
he-box-office-in-2024/5/
Not that I've ever heard of bamsmackpow.com before, but they are thinking the exact same thing that I am. Not only that, but they point out that Ghostbusters 2016 actually grossed more money than Afterlife did. I didn't even catch that until they mentioned it.
Jesus Christ... They're not wrong:
https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Ghostbusters-(2016)#tab=summary
https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Ghostbusters-Afterlife#tab=summary
Afterlife only made $1 Million more in the US than 2016 did, and it made $26 Million less worldwide than 2016 did. Not only that, but 2016 made $39 Million on bluray and DVD while Afterlife has only made $20 Million.
If you count inflation, 2016 lost even more money vs the budget, but on the flipside, it also grossed even more money than Afterlife did, both in the US alone and worldwide.
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Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a welcome return for the legendary franchise, providing audiences with a great legacy sequel that paid tribute to the original entries while also taking it in a new direction. It was a more consistent direction than the 2016 film and ultimately ended up becoming a bigger success story. However, here’s the surprise: The 2016 film actually grossed more at the box office.
The thing that separates 2016’s Ghostbusters from 2021’s Afterlife are the budgets. The former had a ridiculously high budget of $144 million, so even though it grossed $229 million, it still lost over $70 million. Meanwhile, Afterlife had a much more respectable budget of $75 million, which meant that its $204 million gross was ultimately a success. That said, it was a moderate success.
The movie itself was a triumph that restored order (and the original story) for the Ghostbusters franchise. Nevertheless, the decision to now produce a sequel in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire does come with a major risk factor. If the budget is bigger or the gross is much smaller, we could have another Ghostbusters flop on our hands – and given how fun Afterlife was, we hope that’s not the case.
I don't see how this can possibly make any money given Afterlife's returns. Unless this far post-Covid the audience is huge compared to Afterlife and/or they luck out in a REAL lull in the box office and don't have any competition, and/or they somehow managed to keep the budget under $100 Million, this one is almost certainly going to be a loser at the box office.
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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.
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A flick that's been flying under the radar is 'Cabrini', it has a 90% critics score on Rotten Tomato's and a 97% audience score. THIS, from a flick made by Angel Studios which the access critics hate. This is the same studio that made 'Sound of Freedom' which the access critics called right wing propaganda, and FYI, 'Cabrini' has the same director. This film has a strong female lead who takes on the system and becomes a Saint...and isn't woke. This film is all about the power of women and isn't woke, and dam near ALL the critics like it.
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Quote:
Originally posted by whozit:
A flick that's been flying under the radar is 'Cabrini', it has a 90% critics score on Rotten Tomato's and a 97% audience score. THIS, from a flick made by Angel Studios which the access critics hate. This is the same studio that made 'Sound of Freedom' which the access critics called right wing propaganda, and FYI, 'Cabrini' has the same director. This film has a strong female lead who takes on the system and becomes a Saint...and isn't woke. This film is all about the power of women and isn't woke, and dam near ALL the critics like it.
Little weird when ALL of the critics like it, isn't it?
I know that they're getting better because they've got real fear that most of them are on their way out between media sites shutting down left and right and the fact that AI could do most of their jobs better than they can, but 90% critics score on an Angel Studios movie directed by the guy who made Sound of Freedom?
Sus.
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Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.
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