Ghostbusters Officially Becomes A Billion Dollar Franchise At The Box Office

Summary

• The
  Ghostbusters
  franchise has now grossed over $1 billion collectively.
• It reached this milestone thanks to
  Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
  ‘s $54.2 million opening weekend.
• The original
  Ghostbusters
  movie’s adjusted gross is significant, putting it in the league of modern blockbusters.

The Ghostbusters franchise has now officially grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. The horror-comedy franchise, which began in 1984, now includes five installments, with the latest being Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, a direct follow-up to the 2021 legacy sequel Afterlife. All five movies have featured original cast members Annie Potts, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson, though they played different characters during their cameos in the 2016 reboot.

Per Deadline, the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire box office is projected to earn a 3-day total of $54.2 million by the end of its domestic opening weekend. This total pushes the five-movie Ghostbusters franchise past the $1 billion milestone at the worldwide box office. It now joins a list of just 97 movie franchises that have passed that milestone, ranging from John Wick ($1.018 billion) to the Marvel Cinematic Universe ($29.748 billion).

Which Ghostbusters Movies Contributed Most To The Franchise’s Billion-Dollar Status?

Although the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire release has yet to reach the end of its theatrical run, so far every other installment in the franchise has grossed between $200 and $300 million worldwide. This relatively narrow and consistent band is what has allowed the franchise to cross the billion-dollar milestone after just five movies. While the original movie’s $295.6 million gross is still the largest as far as the raw data goes, once adjusted for inflation, the movies’ totals tell a completely different story. See the adjusted chart below:

The original installment’s lead over the other Ghostbusters movies increases significantly on the adjusted chart. Its $884.59 million adjusted gross puts it the original Ghostbusters in the same league as modern smash hits such as the MCU outings Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($859.2 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($845.5 million). In addition to providing the franchise with its biggest boost in the raw numbers, the fact that it was such a substantial hit is likely what allowed the follow-up movies to thrive at the box office, even if they ended up experiencing diminishing returns as time went by.

It makes sense that the original Ghostbusters remains the core source of the franchise’s commercial power, considering the fact that it is the movie that started it all. However, its five-years-later sequel also contributed significantly to this total when it became the seventh highest-grossing domestic movie of 1989. While the three modern installments have yet to reach that level, the fact that the franchise has finally reached this tremendous milestone can be attributed to them carrying on the legacy.

Source: Deadline