Ghostbusters

How much does the new Ghostbusters need to make if it wants to be a bonafide, genuine hit? The opening weekend for director Paul Feig’s reboot of the beloved franchise raises more questions than answers and the second and third weekend will ultimately prove more telling. However, here’s what we can say right now: it opened with solid numbers in second place behind last week’s massive champion, The Secret Life of Pets.

If you got the feeling of deja vu watching Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot, it wasn’t just something strange in your neighborhood. The new movie is loaded, from one end to the next with references and homages to Ivan Reitman’s 1984 original. It’s haunted, you might say. (And I did, in my review of the film.)

We published our spoiler-free review of Ghostbusters earlier this week, but there’s only so much you can discuss without touching on the fine points. Now that Ghostbusters is out in theaters everywhere, it’s time to go deeper, with ScreenCrush’s SPOILER-filled discussion of Paul Feig’s new reboot.

Last year, Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak was denied release in Chinese theaters thanks to an old provision in the country’s censorship code, which bans films that feature cults and superstitious elements. It looks like a similar fate has befallen Ghostbusters, as Paul Feig’s reboot will not be hitting theaters in the world’s second largest film market. But it might not entirely be about that whole ghost thing.

If you’ve been to the supermarket or the toy store lately you’ve seen a lot of Ghostbusters tie-in merchandise. Action figures, beverages, snack cakes, stuffed dolls; you name it, they’re making it to promote the new Ghostbusters movie opening in theaters this Friday.

Movies and video games don’t exactly have the most pleasant working relationship. Films based on hit games are usually terrible (seriously, have you ever seen a good movie based on one?), and games based on movies aren’t always stellar, either. An official tie-in video game isn’t really a requirement, but if the film in question is a big budget blockbuster based on a popular existing brand, it presents an opportunity to cross revenue streams for an easy cash-in. Unfortunately, the trailer for the new Ghostbusters video game feels like a perfunctory afterthought — as if Sony suddenly snapped awake one morning and thought, “Oh, right, we should probably do that.”

As you probably recall, the trailer for Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters became the most-disliked movie trailer in YouTube history thanks to a certain contingency of very vocal fans of Ivan Reitman’s original film. It would appear that those fans are at it again, this time taking to IMDb, where they’re spamming the ratings for Feig’s reboot to ensure it has a low user score. Unsurprisingly, the majority of voters are men between the ages of 18 and 44. And while the exact point of this little exercise in anti-Ghostbusters activism is unclear, what is apparent is that these guys aren’t letting this whole thing go anytime soon.

Dear Ghostbusters haters, are you still angry about Paul Feig‘s female reboot? Are your hands tired from typing one vile, misogynistic comment after the next on YouTube? Are you praying the new movie will bomb at the box office so your precious childhood will never be threatened again? Well, too bad.

The very last line of Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters is “That isn’t terrible at all,” dialogue that can only be interpreted as a final nod to a fanbase that has worked itself into a lather fretting about this reboot’s tone, special effects, and particularly its female-centric cast. It feels sort of like when the doctor gives you a pep talk after a shot you’ve been dreading: That wasn’t so bad now, was it?

I have a dream job. What could be better than watching and talking about movies for a living? Nothing; the answer is nothing. But lately my job has been a lot less fun than normal, because the movies themselves have been a lot less fun. Quite frankly, this summer sucks.

That TV spot for Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters is called “The Slimers.” And if you watch through to the end, you see Slimer driving a car (ghosts can drive?) with a female Slimer. I guess that makes her a Slimette? I don’t know. Either way, she has hair and bright lipstick. Ghosts have hair? And lips?

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts. I am afraid of cover songs.