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| Something fresh that's funny and ominously spooky at the same time is promised on this effective poster for Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters |
Three guys who are fired from university paranormal scientist positions instead begin hunting ghosts in the Big Apple. More specifically an evil entity by the name of Zuul, which comes out of sexy New-Yorker Dana's (Sigourney Weaver (Alien (1979)) refrigerator.
Ghostbusters is written by co-writer/co-star Dan Aykroyd (Dragnet (1987)) and co-writer/co-star Harold Ramis (Bedazzled (2000)) and directed by Ivan Reitman (Foxy Lady (1971)).
It is a delightful 1980s horror-comedy bonanza with a hilarious Bill Murray (Rock the Kashbah (2015)) at the film's front and center. Rick Moranis (SCTV (1980-81)) as Dana's neighbor is also a riot.
Ghostbusters is a throw-back to a fantastic era where experimentation such as an FX-heavy comedy with no intellectual property behind it, - a costly, unproven and original concept, - enjoyed full studio support. It is a colorful, highly entertaining and damn good time.
Related post:
Ivan Reitman: Evolution (2001) - Reitman's sci-fi crazy-comedy is thoroughly entertaining
Watch an original trailer for the film here
Cost: Estimated 30 mil. $
Box office: 295.7 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 9.85 times its cost)
[Ghostbusters premiered 7 June (California) and runs 105 minutes. Aykroyd was inspired by his family's fascination with ghosts and with ghost comedies of Hollywood yore. The studio paid Universal Pictures 500k $ for the rights to the Ghostbusters title. Reitman requested the 25-30 mil. $ budget by simply tripling the budget of his preceding film Stripes (1981). John Candy was sought for the neighbor Tully role but turned it down; Eddie Murphy was meant to be the 4th ghostbuster Winston but turned it down, and the role was diminished prior to filming to the regret of its eventually star Ernie Hudson, who goes unrecognized on the film's poster. Shooting took place in New York and Los Angeles from October 1983 - January 1984. Production shut down streets in New York during rush hour, angering residents including writer Isaac Asimov, and necessitating an officer pull his gun on a taxi driver refusing to comply. With Hollywood's major special effects companies already busy on other projects, Columbia Pictures supported Richard Edlund, fresh off Poltergeist (1982), with 5 mil. $ to open a new SFX company named Boss Film Studios and create the effects for Ghostbusters. The effects cost 700k $ more to complete and included Steve Johnson's 300k $ Slimer ghost, created with inspiration from the late John Belushi while taking cocaine. Columbia spent an additional 10 mil. $ on prints and marketing. One trailer included a toll-free number with a pre-recorded message from Aykroyd and Murray, which reportedly got more than a million calls in 6 weeks. The film opened #1 to a 13.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another 14 weekends and was in the top 5 for another 7 weekends, grossing 229.2 mil. $ in its first release there (81.2 % of the total initial gross). It has made more in subsequent re-releases. It was the 2nd highest-grossing film of the year in North America, behind Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Ghostbusters is the highest-grossing comedy of the 1980s. Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters #1 Billboard Hot 100 theme is thought to have contributed 20 mil. $ to the film's success, but Parker was sued by Huey Lewis for plagiarizing the bass line in his I Want A New Drug (1983): The two settled out of court, and Parker sued Lewis for saying that Parker "stole the song" in a 2001 VH1 episode, leading Lewis to then pay him an undisclosed sum. While Hudson worked for half his fee to get the role as Winston, the real stars received gross profit percentages; Murray at top reportedly earned 20-30 mil. $ from the film. Tons of merchandise were sold, as well as 400k VHS copies initially in North America, at the incredible unit prize of 79.95 $, accruing a further 32 mil. $. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Effects, lost to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Best Song (Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters), lost to Stevie Wonder's I Just Called to Say I Love You from The Woman in Red. It was also nominated for 3 Golden Globes, won 1/2 BAFTA nominations and was nominated for a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. The film inspired an animated TV-series (The Real Ghostbusters (1986-92)) and a sequel series, as well as a less successful (still majorly successful though) movie sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989) with the filmmakers and cast back, which disappointed Murray, impeding a second sequel: Instead the female reboot Ghostbusters (2016) was made to financial mire: A new sequel with a new cast, directed by Reitman's son Jason Reitman, is set for release this summer as Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Reitman returned with the music video for Parker's Ghostbusters (1984) and theatrically with Legal Eagles (1986). Murray enjoyed a 6-year hiatus after the smash before returning as a leading star with Scrooged (1988); his first role was, however, in Nothing Lasts Forever (1984); Aykroyd in the same film; and Ramis in Baby Boom (1987). Ghostbusters is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.14/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Ghostbusters?
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