The fifth installment in the comedy franchise has grossed twice its production budget.
The Big Picture
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire hits $200 million globally, despite mixed reviews and comparisons to predecessors.
- Sequel to Afterlife, Frozen Empire features original and new cast, bringing back iconic stars from earlier films.
- Franchise continues to thrive after over 40 years, with Frozen Empire proving there’s still life in Ghostbusters.
Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has passed a major box office milestone, over two months into its quietly successful theatrical run. The film debuted in theaters worldwide back in mid-March, and was released on PVOD platforms in early May. But despite having lost a significant number of theaters since then, Frozen Empire has held its ground, delivering a series of strong holds, especially at the domestic box office. On its 10th weekend of release, the same weekend during which Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga crashed in its debut, the film passed the $200 million mark globally.
Frozen Empire has grossed just under $113 million domestically and a little over $87 million from overseas markets, for a worldwide haul of exactly $200 million. Even though the movie wasn’t able to match the performance of its two immediate predecessors — the all-female reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call and the Stranger Things-coded Ghostbusters: Afterlife — passing the $200 million milestone is a badge of honor, especially in a year that has been so worryingly inconsistent.
Frozen Empire serves as a direct sequel to Afterlife, which was a sleeper hit of sorts in mid-pandemic 2021. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film concluded its theatrical run with just under $130 million domestically and $203 million worldwide. It fell short of Paul Feig’s controversial 2016 film, which defied horrendous online fan behavior to gross just under $130 million domestically and nearly $230 million worldwide. Answer the Call was produced on a reported budget of nearly $150 million, which affected the optics of its box office performance. Sony restricted the budget for Afterlife to $75 million, and increased it to a reported $100 million for Frozen Empire.
The ‘Ghostbusters’ Franchise Has Grossed Over $1.1 Billion Worldwide
Directed by Gil Kenan, the movie opened to $45 million domestically, finding itself sandwiched between Afterlife and Answer the Call. Reviews weren’t exactly glowing, with the film’s Rotten Tomatoes score having settled at 43%, although audience response was significantly better at 83%. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime wrote that the movie “shows that there’s still some life in this world, but only when leaving the past in the past.”
The Ghostbusters franchise began in 1984 with director Ivan Reitman’s classic first film, which grossed nearly $300 million worldwide. It remains the series’ biggest hit, and was followed by 1989’s GhostbustersII. Plans to make a third film were floated for years, before Feig rebooted the series in 2016. Frozen Empire brings back the stars of Afterlife — Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace — alongside the stars of the original two films, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts. You can watch the film at home and in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.
- Release Date
- March 22, 2024
- Director
- Gil Kenan
- Cast
- Mckenna Grace , Carrie Coon , Paul Rudd , Emily Alyn Lind , Finn Wolfhard , Bill Murray , Dan Aykroyd , Ernie Hudson
This article was originally published on collider.com