The opening weekend estimates for Ghostbusters: Afterlife continued rising throughout the week, and as it turns out, Sony were very conservative in placing estimations in the $27-35 million range.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, it looks as though the supernatural comedy sequel fans have been crying out for since 1989 has debuted to $44 million, a fairly robust haul by the standards of the pandemic. It isn’t one of the highest totals we’ve seen since business finally started to pick up over the summer, but it’s a decent start regardless.
With a rumored budget of just $75 million, very much on the low side for an effects-driven franchise film, it shouldn’t be long before Ghostbusters: Afterlife begins turning a profit, with the studio expecting it to hold well through Thanksgiving and beyond, while international markets should continue to drum up solid business.
In other notable news, Will Smith’s King Richard failed to even reach $6 million, yet another miss for Warner Bros.’ contentious decision to debut the entire slate of 2021 titles on HBO Max the same day they hit theaters. It’s all about Ghostbusters: Afterlife, though, which is on course to rejuvenate the property in a way Paul Feig’s reboot most certainly did not.