Sony Pictures will have been screaming “we’ve got one” over the weekend, as their soft projections for Ghostbusters: Afterlife were obliterated at the U.S. box office to the tune of $44M.
Predicted to gross somewhere between $27-$35M over the three-day weekend, Jason Reitman’s sequel to his father’s beloved 1984 comedy classic instead munched on an impressive $44M. Starring Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, as well as a host of familiar franchise favourites, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which only cost about $75M to produce, was able to ride the middling reviews and instead thrive on strong word-of-mouth (it earned an A- CinemaScore grade) to top the charts, with the potential to do strong family business over the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.
The spookbusters only competition this weekend came from the holdovers, where Clifford the Big Red Dog dropped the ball to the tune of -51.3%, taking $8.1M for a running total of $33.5M, while Eternals continued to fall fast, earning $10.8M in its third weekend for a domestic cume of $135.8M. Chloé Zhao’s Marvel film has roped in $200.3M overseas, for a worldwide tally of $336.1M, but you can expect to see this one heading to Disney+ sooner rather than later.
Another film whose fate may be dictated by its streaming performance is Warner Bros.’ Will Smith starring sports biopic King Richard. The terrific tennis drama couldn’t even get an underhand second-serve over the net this weekend with a dismal gross of $5.7M.
The full box-office charts, including the excellent limited release gross of Joaquin Phoenix starring C’mon C’mon, can be found over at BoxOfficeMojo.
