‘Ghostbusters’ sequel unlikely as reboot heads for $70m loss

“Ghostbusters” might not have an afterlife. A sequel to the all-female reboot is now “unlikely”, according The Hollywood Reporter. A follow-up to Paul Feig’s Melissa McCarthy / Kristen Wiig comedy was considered a shoo-in right before the film’s release last month. But amid lukewarm reviews and struggling box office returns, talk of “Ghostbusters 2” has all but evaporated.The film has earned almost $181 million at the global box office, $117 million of that domestically.

Although it has made back its production budget of $144 million, its massive marketing bill must be recouped on top of that.

The director had stated before the film’s release it would have to make at least $300 million just to break even; THR estimated the studio Sony is preparing to grind to a $70 million loss. Sony did not confirm it has scrapped the planned sequel, but a rep “tellingly” informed the magazine it was actively pursuing an animated “Ghostbusters” feature that could hit theatres in 2019 and an animated TV series, “Ghostbusters: Ecto Force”, in 2018.

“We’re very proud of the bold movie Paul Feig made, which critics and audiences loved,” the rep said.

“It has enlivened a 30-year-old brand and put it into the modern zeitgeist. As a result, we have many ideas in the works to further exploit the ‘Ghostbusters’ universe.”

The rep strongly denied the $70 million loss figure, insisting the brand had multiple revenue streams — apparently ignoring Egon’s golden rule about crossing streams.

This loss calculation is way off,’ the rep told THR. ‘With multiple revenue streams, including consumer products, gaming, location-based entertainment, continued international rollout, and huge third-party promotional partnerships that mitigated costs, the bottom line, even before co-financing, is not remotely close to that number.’

However, box-office analyst Jeff Bock told the mag: “Ghostbusters is on ice until further notice”.

“I just can’t fathom the creative talents behind it — Feig, McCarthy, Wiig, etc. slogging out another one when the reception to the first one was so mediocre,” he said.

There are a few overseas markets yet to receive the film — including France, Japan and Mexico. China has been skipped because there ‘wasn’t much market there’, as Chinese audiences apparently never bothered with the original two. — Dailymail.