There are conflicting reports in the Chinese-language media as to whether this film would be screened in mainland China (It will definitely appear in Hong Kong). For one thing the title has already been officially translated as "Super Power Squad" (超能敢死队), and this article says that "there is hope that the film will be brought in China". On the other hand, here is another source claiming the opposite, citing both the government's ban on supernatural subjects, as well as Chinese audience's unfamiliarity with the franchise.
There are conflicting reports in the Chinese-language media as to whether this film would be screened in mainland China (It will definitely appear in Hong Kong). For one thing the title has already been officially translated as "Super Power Squad" (超能敢死队), and this article says that "there is hope that the film will be brought in China". On the other hand, here is another source claiming the opposite, citing both the government's ban on supernatural subjects, as well as Chinese audience's unfamiliarity with the franchise.
Entirely speculating here but I bet the onlines are mixing up bootleg media on the street with a big theatrical release. Or the Mainland, HK, and Taiwan.
Everyone who supported the film was always going to focus on the positives. Even if it had grossed say 20 million less, there would have been people putting a positive spin on the box office numbers. For example, in that tweet he focused on saying it was the highest grossing live action comedy in a year, instead of referencing the fact that it's more than likely finished second behind pets. I can see Ghostbusters at least having a 50-60% drop next weekend, which is really bad, but all the lovers of the film will claim it's all good because it got the highest second week gross for a comedy film that involved ghosts or something similar.
I think what most people have predicted would happen, will happen. The film will gross around $150 million domestically and another $150-200 million internationally to get around a $350,000 million final gross. Those numbers won't be amazing, but they won't be absolutely horrendous either. This will cause both sides to claim victory. I'm really curious if despite Sony claiming that this would spawn an 'endless,' franchise if it really will. Numbers for sequels will more than likely only dwindle, and it all seems like more effort than it's worth.
Even still, that's only about $15 million more than Gods of Egypt grossed on its opening weekend. And that movie had none of the brand recognition/internet hype, none of the advertising campaign (Papa John's, Progressive Insurance commercials...while Gods of Egypt had that superbowl TV spot but that didn't do John Carter any good either), and it was released in the winter dead-zone and not the summer. I dunno, just thought that'd be an interesting point of comparison. Or maybe I just equate the two because they both never should have been made to begin with.
Well now that the results are in, I'm DEFINITELY not going to watch this film. Maybe 10 years down the line on some bootleg if I feel like hurting myself intellectually, but I'm not endorsing Sony's reckless behaviour.
What baffles me the most about this is that Sony sank somuch money into this trainwreck of a film - one which they actively turned away their core audience for to appeal to a vocal minority - in the hopes of generating a series of Marvel Cinematic Universe proportions. And they thought they could achieve this by spinning a narrative that critics were all sexist basement dwellers? It's insane.
That might have been true if they had only spent $144 million on this project, but they've spent a lot of money in advertising and marketing this filth. Toys (which are already on clearance), NBA commercials, a video game (which is shit)...if Paul Feig is to be believed, he says this movie needs $500 million to break even:
I'm pretty confident this movie isn't going to make it that far, and most certainly not enough for any intelligent investors to want to keep pushing the franchise in its current condition. Let's not forget that Star Trek Beyond and the new Ice Age are coming out in five days....
There are conflicting reports in the Chinese-language media as to whether this film would be screened in mainland China (It will definitely appear in Hong Kong). For one thing the title has already been officially translated as "Super Power Squad" (超能敢死队), and this article says that "there is hope that the film will be brought in China". On the other hand, here is another source claiming the opposite, citing both the government's ban on supernatural subjects, as well as Chinese audience's unfamiliarity with the franchise.
I heard it was called "Super Power Dare to Die Team". Not sure how much this movie would even make in China given its demographic. How successful could a movie with 4 feminists - two of which are overweight - that go around sucking up ghosts be in a place like China?
That might have been true if they had only spent $144 million on this project, but they've spent a lot of money in advertising and marketing this filth. Toys (which are already on clearance), NBA commercials, a video game (which is shit)...if Paul Feig is to be believed, he says this movie needs $500 million to break even:
Oh wow straight from the horse's ass mouth. I wasn't sure about the marketing costs, which is why I kept my estimate to just its production budget. It's still early in the game, but I have a feeling that a year from now we'll be seeing a lot of articles about concept art and scrapped ideas and other such things from the "Ghostbusters cinematic universe that never was." In fact, I probably just gave Midnight's Edge their next multi-part series.
Unless, of course, people start pouring out in droves to support this movie over the next month or so and China decides to pick it up for release and it grosses $750+ million. And then unicorns will fly out of everyone's asses and we'll all get that dank Slimer spin-off movie that the world has been screaming for.
They're pretty good at those projections, and it's well within the upper range of predictions. Unsurprisingly, the movies success depends on how that opening weekend relates to the eventual gross. It was more or less expected that Sony had managed to astroturf their way into an opening weekend, but what happens next is the important thing. It would have to be fairly bad to drop off markedly.
They're pretty good at those projections, and it's well within the upper range of predictions. Unsurprisingly, the movies success depends on how that opening weekend relates to the eventual gross. It was more or less expected that Sony had managed to astroturf their way into an opening weekend, but what happens next is the important thing. It would have to be fairly bad to drop off markedly.
I doubt the word of mouth is very positive for this film, and a couple of bigger name movies are incoming very soon. Those are pretty bad obstacles to box office success.
It isn't going to be a huge bomb, but it won't be a huge success. I think that after this, the franchise goes back into slumber and both "sides" claim victory and are simultaneously disappointed that it didn't bomb/succeed as much as they hoped.
According to Hollywood Reporter, domestically it made about $46 million, while internationally it made about $19.1 million, so $65.1 million in total. THR also has a lengthy analysis on why this does not bode well for Sony trying to make this into a franchise.
"The more I ponder it, the worse this scenario plays out. Curiosity played a big factor in the $46 million debut and, as such, I doubt it will hold like a typical Feig comedy. In fact, I think it's going to drop big time when Star Trek Beyond and Ice Age: Collision Course open next week," says box-office analyst Jeff Bock.
"I know Sony is crowing about it being a great opening for a comedy, but the entire Ghostbusters legacy is what's at stake here, and it's not looking good. This was supposed to be a blockbuster," he continues. "Sony definitively did not launch a franchise, and seemingly they might be the only ones that don't know it. I know it's been a tough road for them, and I feel for them."
The article does make a slight diversion about how most of the criticism leveled at the movie being from "some outspoken male fans" but does go on to mention...
It's impossible to determine whether the naysayers hurt the movie because the opening weekend demographics were inconclusive. Men didn't exactly stay away, but women didn't show up in compensatory numbers either.
In fact, while Ghostbusters didn't play like a chick flick in North America, it didn't perform like an all-audience summer tentpole either. Instead, it landed somewhere in between. Females made up about 56 percent of the audience — versus 75 percent or more for a Pitch Perfect or Bridesmaids — while more than 60 percent of the audience was over the age of 25.
According to Hollywood Reporter, domestically it made about $46 million, while internationally it made about $19.1 million, so $65.1 million in total. THR also has a lengthy analysis on why this does not bode well for Sony trying to make this into a franchise.
"The more I ponder it, the worse this scenario plays out. Curiosity played a big factor in the $46 million debut and, as such, I doubt it will hold like a typical Feig comedy. In fact, I think it's going to drop big time when Star Trek Beyond and Ice Age: Collision Course open next week," says box-office analyst Jeff Bock.
"I know Sony is crowing about it being a great opening for a comedy, but the entire Ghostbusters legacy is what's at stake here, and it's not looking good. This was supposed to be a blockbuster," he continues. "Sony definitively did not launch a franchise, and seemingly they might be the only ones that don't know it. I know it's been a tough road for them, and I feel for them."
The article does make a slight diversion about how most of the criticism leveled at the movie being from "some outspoken male fans" but does go on to mention...
Also, just some (not so kind) from women who absolutely hated Sony's latest dumpster fire...
Personally I think they could still make this into a popular movie franchise, they just need to stop trying to make it political and aim it squarely at kids with a mixed cast of teens Ghostbusters similar to something like Scooby Doo (Although hopefully better than the live action Scooby Doo).
I mean from a monetary standpoint kids are a far better audience for this kind of movie due to toy sales.
