Producer-director Ivan Reitman's mega box office hit from 1984, Ghostbusters, is being re-released to theatres this August 29th in celebration of its 30th anniversary. (I say: "ouch... that was thirty years ago?")
According to a bit I heard on the radio this evening the picture has gotten a digital upgrade (I say: "Oh my god! A 'digital upgrade'?! That's amazing!") and will be shown in around 800 theatres this summer.
This ghost of a movie-goer did not see Ghostbusters until about two years ago; courtesy of a friend's DVD. To be perfectly honest, the movie did not impress me. What does impress me, is the huge box office take; 300 million dollars in 1984 is like 800-900 million now... wow!
Good for Ivan Reitman. A good Canadian boy.
2 comments:
Box office never impresses me. The original Ghostbusters (meaning this 1984 one for my generation, not the many variations of black and white films or Micky Mouse chasing a Lonesome Ghost nor the cartoon Ghost Busters which I never watched, since I was only interested in The Real Ghostbusters based on the movie at hand) is a good flick. Reitman's inspired tweak was to take one part of Aykroyd's very busy screenplay and make it a "going into business" story. What's odd is that the first started shooting without a final draft (some outlining at Martha's Vinyard) and there has been so much delay of Ghostbusters 3 over "getting the script right" or giving Murray more chances to say no. My unsolicited opinion is that the re-release will do okay and the digital changes will be less offensive than certain Special Editions, but it will be an opening weekend money grab where it should have been the new movie opening. It is a place-holder. It will pay for the restoration. I notice Temple of Doom, Gremlins, and Romancing the Stone - also hits from that year - have less fanfare for their 30 years. Maybe Ghostbusters ages well because it is about teamwork and the group dynamic that inspires people.
"Box office never impresses me."
Fair enough, but this is a business. By the way, aren't you on 'Box Office Mojo' quite a bit? Like you, I'm sure, I don't rate a film based on cash intake (and my guess is that's what you meant to say).
Oh, thanks for the reminder; there was a Ghostbusters 2.
Thanks for the comment!
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