How Netflix’s Most Hated Sci-Fi Accidentally Saved the Best ’80s Franchise
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
There are few films that are hated by their fans more than 2016 The Ghostbusters (also known as Ghostbusters: Answer the Call), an all-female reboot of the iconic ’80s film in which a bunch of lovable slobs start a ghost-hunting business. Followers hated a remake because it lacked the heart, humor, and departure that made the original film one of the most successful sci-fi movies in Hollywood history. But what those fans don’t realize is that Answer the Phone (now streaming on Netflix) deserves credit for one major achievement: accidentally saving the franchise and forcing Sony to start delivering the kinds of Ghostbusters movies the fandom has been waiting for.
When Ghostbusters: Answer the Call he went out, sin received mixed reviews; for example, its 74 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes indicates that critics loved it (but didn’t love it).. However, its record low 49 percent viewership rating shows just how much actual moviegoers hated it, and YouTube is still inundated (quick, grab your proton pack!) with videos that perfectly depict this disappointing remake. That was reflected in box office sales, and (because ticket sales couldn’t keep up with high marketing costs), the film reportedly cost Sony at least $50 million.
The Ghostbusters Reboot fell flat on its face
Now, how did a Sony film that bombed so hard with fans end up saving the franchise? The short answer is that it forced the studio to go in a completely different direction with this beloved intellectual property. At first, Sony’s president of global distribution (Rory Bruer) said there would be a sequel Ghostbusters: Answer the Calland both actors and director Paul Feige had signed on for two more films; However, after the first film proved to be a Slimer-sized bomb at the box office, the studio decided to go somewhere new.
But in a strange way that Peter Venkman himself would appreciate, a new approach it turned out to be very bad, a lot the old one. Dan Akyroyd wrote a Ghostbusters III script in the early ’90s, and his original story was later adapted into an incredibly impressive 2009 video game titled (what else?) Ghostbusters: The Video Game. The main Ghostbusters returned to give their voices for that, but when it came to creating another live-action film, Bill Murray kept refusing to return, which (among other things) prevented us from getting a more direct sequel. Ghostbusters II.
Sadly, efforts to make a third Ghostbusters movie were stalled, and Egon Spengler actor Harold Ramis died in 2014. Previously, Ivan Reitman (director of the first two Ghostbusters films) was attached to direct the third film; One year after Ramis’ death, he decided he no longer wanted to bring the franchise back to life. By this time, Sony was so fed up with Bill Murray’s refusal to return as Peter Venkman that they were ready to reboot Ghostbusters entirely, and ended up giving the director’s chair to Paul Feige.
The Women Were Happy, But The Audience Wasn’t Laughing
It was Feige’s idea to do it Ghostbusters: Answer the Call a complete reboot featuring “beautiful women” rather than men. Believe it or not, his intentions were good: he wanted to make a fun new movie that played with the franchise’s formula without disrupting any canon that fans loved. He also worried that not restarting would be disappointingly similar Ghostbusters IIbecause it will have to be seen that the group is scattered again and then reluctantly comes back together.
Of course, the road to cinematic hell is paved with good intentions, too Ghostbusters: Answer the Call it ended up costing Sony $50 million. This is how we got it in the end Ghostbusters: Afterlifewhen Jason Reitman (son of the late Ivan Reitman) tries to connect the narrative needle when the original Ghostbusters were still alive and didn’t appear properly until the end of the film. The remaining runtime focuses on Egon Spengler’s daughter moving her family to her old home in space, where they must find new friends and ultimately save the planet from the Gozer, an ancient entity from the very first film.
A New Movie Has The Ghostbusters Franchise On Its Back
Ghostbusters: Afterlife it wasn’t a perfect movie, of course; among other issues (such as tight acting and reliance on tired lines), it turns the original’s funny jokes on. The Ghostbusters it’s a warm, Spielbergian nostalgia fest. But it was a huge hit with fans, earning a critical score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (where, oddly enough, below important points than Ghostbusters: Answer the Call). Most important to the studio, however, was that the movie was profitable, earning enough money ($204.3 million against a $75 million budget) to warrant a sequel.
Now, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire he was equally imperfect; it tried to pack too many characters and too many stories into a simple, expensive film and made little profit. Still, it was enough of a profit for the studio to start working on a sequel, and fans are currently waiting for a CGI Ghostbusters show on Netflix. Between these new projects and the onslaught of merchandise (including re-releases of old toys and cosplay-friendly Proton Packs and PKE meters), it’s fair to say that the Ghostbusters are back, baby!
Time to Cross the Streamers
Looking back, it’s clear that this franchise revival couldn’t have happened without it Ghostbusters: Answer the Call; if that film had proven successful, we’d be four films deep into Paul Feige’s wacky, femme-fronted franchise. If it had been a minor failure, Sony probably would have made one or two attempts to reboot Ghostbusters from scratch. But thank you Answer the Phone be a box bomb hated by fans all over the worldSony had to do the last thing studios want to do: finally give the fans what they want!
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is currently streaming on Netflix, and if you’re a huge fan of the franchise, you should check it out. It might not be your cup of comedy tea (honestly, if you don’t forget that it’s trying to reboot, the movie is decent), but it’s the movie that brought back the biggest franchise of the ’80s, if only by accident. At the end of the day, it’s worth crossing the stream(s) and giving this hated film one last chance.
