According to Variety, the studio projected an opening weekend in the $38 million to $40 million range, but box offices trackers are suggesting it may be more like $45 to $50 million. I know around 30 people who are going tonight, so that’s a big chunk of change right there:
Online ticketing service Fandango reported on Wednesday that “Ghostbusters” was its top pre-selling live-action comedy of the year, outpacing “Central Intelligence” and “Ride Along 2” — both which opened at over $35 million. That would make “Ghostbusters” the biggest live-action comedy opening since “Pitch Perfect 2” opened in May, 2015, with a stunning $69 million.
In a fun twist, all the complaining that trolls have done about women starring as made-up scientists has increased awareness of the film beyond what any publicity campaign could have, driving up the film’s profile and ticket sales. So far, the highest grossing film of the year is Finding Dory at a domestic gross of $431,869,779. But the tenth highest is Central Intelligence, which has grossed $111,325,726, so a big opening weekend could send Ghostbuster shooting into the top ten pretty easily.
But as Variety also notes, animated children’s movie The Secret Life of Pets has done insanely well in the last week, opening to $104.4 million, which breaks the record Inside Out set for best launch of an original animated title. It’s currently number nine on the list of 2016’s top grossing films, so maybe the next Ghostbusters reboot will star sassy animated dogs and cats instead of women.
Image via AP.
