Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Looks To Defeat Bad Reviews With Big Box Office
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire may be about stopping an impending Ice Age, but the predicted box office numbers are red hot. While the film hasn’t been getting the best early reviews, that doesn’t seem to be affecting the box office numbers. The studios were hoping for an opening weekend take around $43 to $44 million, but recent tracking numbers say the ghostly franchise could bring in $45 million or more.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a sequel to Jason Reitman’s (son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman) Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Although Reitman stayed on to co-write the screenplay with Gil Kenan, he handed over the directing reins to Kenan this time around. Kenan also co-wrote Afterlife with Reitman.
The Story of Frozen Empire
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire takes place two years after the events of Afterlife, and sees the Spengler family moving from Oklahoma to the franchise’s original setting in New York City as a ghostly force threatens to plunge the world into another Ice Age. Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim all reprise their roles from Afterlife along with original franchise cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton. Newcomers to the franchise include Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, James Acaster, and Emily Alyn Lind.
Big Competition Is Coming Soon
A robust opening weekend is good news for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire because the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will be released next weekend. The Monsterverse film will undoubtedly eat into some of the Ghostbusters fanbase, so there could be some competition for the number-one spot next weekend. Of course, the massive commercial and critical hit Dune: Part Two is still in theaters and has the $600 million mark in its crosshairs after passing half a billion earlier this week.
If Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s projected take comes true, then it will undoubtedly nab the number one spot this weekend. But, it’s not the only new film to be hitting theaters. Sydney Sweeney’s horror flick Immaculate will also be opening this weekend, though it’s currently tracking to open in the low single digits.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will also have to contend with a couple of animated films competing for box office dollars. Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron is returning to theaters to celebrate its best animated feature win at the Oscars. Meanwhile, Kung Fu Panda 4 continues to do well at the box office, and will undoubtedly look to cross the $200 million mark.
Critics Are Chilly Toward Frozen Empire
There’s also the fact that Ghosbusters: Frozen Empire is getting pretty mixed reviews, with a current critic score of 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. Of course, audiences don’t always agree with the critics, so a strong audience reaction could be enough to propel the film forward in the coming weekends. But, if audiences hate it too, we could see a fairly big drop-off in the film’s second weekend.
A Sequel On The Way?
If Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire can become a financial success, we probably can expect more from the franchise in the future. If not, the studios might have to reassess. You can catch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in theaters this weekend.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
