Summary

• Franchise profits are declining despite consistent earnings of $200 million per project with increased budgets.
• A new Ghostbusters movie sequel is unlikely due to financial concerns and waning audience interest.
• Franchise becoming repetitive due to story and setting, losing the original quirkiness that made it stand out in the first place.

A profit of $200 million may be a success for some movies, but for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, it could be the final nail in the franchise's coffin. The Ghostbusters franchise has consistently released new material since the first movie in 1984. Outside the original movie and the 1989 sequel, there were multiple animated TV shows, video games and even officially licensed comics produced by Marvel and IDW among others. However, when the reboot was released in 2016, anticipation and appreciation for the brand had noticeably shifted.

After the attempt to reboot the franchise fell flat, a new revival movie was made, appropriately named Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which released in 2021. With a considerably more modest budget than the 2016 reboot (via The Numbers), Afterlife appeared to be hitting the right notes for fans. However, the franchise's latest installment, Frozen Empire, actually saw the box office earnings surprisingly trend downward. Despite the franchise consistently pulling in about $200 million with each project, the increased budget and adjustments for inflation actually put Frozen Empire's earnings far behind the original movie (via Box Office Mojo).

6 Ghostbusters Is Still Torn Between Its Old & New Cast

Balancing Original Legacy with New Characters

While paying respect to the original movies and cast is an important and positive endeavor from the latest movies, it can end up pulling the movie in different, conflicting directions. The original cast are in their 70s, with one of the original actors, Harold Ramis, having ed away in 2014. Having these, primarily comedy actors, star in an action-packed story at such an advanced age fails to evoke the intensity that the story requires.

The new cast is considerably younger, with vibrant and colorful personalities that can easily take the lead in these stories. However, due to the prominent placement of the original actors in the stories, it has taken some of the attention away from the people that are set to take over. This doesn't mean that there should be no connection, but having the new lead characters being the daughter of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler and her children and partner is connection enough.

Continuing to try and the two worlds together and give both more attention ends up harming the franchise. It becomes confusing, distracting, and feels too much like a legacy movie instead of an exciting new chapter. The movies need to confidently put their trust in the new cast in order to properly move forward.

5 Ghostbusters Movies Can't Reboot Again

Challenges of Moving Forward with the "Ghostbusters" Franchise

Ghostbusters is also in the unfortunate position that it can't easily go backwards. The original films came out in the 1980s, which meant there was a healthy gap between those first stories and the eventual sequels almost 40 years later. However, there was also an attempt to reboot the franchise in 2016. The film received widespread negative reviews, and plans to build on the new timeline were scrapped.

if the franchise has run its course and reception is stale, there are not many options for how to move forward

Reviving the franchise gave it the opportunity to more fully pay respect to the originals and continue the story. However, if the franchise has run its course and reception is stale, there are not many options for how to move forward. Rebooting the franchise again, less than 10 years after the last reboot and so close to two sequels, would be a bold, and likely costly, move with no guarantee of success.

Other franchises that rebooted so close to earlier entries have often fallen flat. For example, 2015s Fantastic Four reboot releasing 10 years after the original and 8 years after the sequel. Spider-Man being adapted three times in 15 years, with the second attempt performing the worst. Rapid reboots appear to frequently ring in the end of a franchise, not a healthy new beginning.

4 A Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Sequel Seems Unlikely

Financial Viability Concerns for the "Ghostbusters" Franchise

Studios are ultimately most concerned with the profits they bring in at the end of the day. Creating a movie like 1984s Ghostbusters for $30 million and earning back over $200 million is a wise financial investment with a good return. This is why the studios involved will typically increase the budgets between movies when a large return is more likely.

Frozen Empire had an enhanced budget of $100 million, and then earned slightly less at $200 million

However, Ghostbusters as a franchise is moving in the wrong direction in of profitability. Afterlife was made for $75 million, and it earned a total of $203 million. Factoring in marketing costs, this is still going to be a healthy profit margin. However, Frozen Empire had an enhanced budget of $100 million, and then earned slightly less at $200 million. With distribution, marketing and other costs outside of making the movie, it's possible that the return from Frozen Empire was much more negligible.

If the studios were to make another Ghostbusters movie, it would need to either cut the budget, which could lose the stars of the film, or accept that it may make a loss. But, for a business that makes movies and thrives on the sale of tickets to those films, it doesn't make sense to keep making movies that are not profitable. At present, a sixth Ghostbusters movie has not been confirmed, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to see why a studio would take the risk.

3 Interest In Ghostbusters Has Diminished, But The Franchise Won't Be Left Alone

The Evolution and Future of the Franchise

Ghostbusters came out 40 years ago, and in that time, the franchise has gone through several iterations. As mentioned above, TV shows, comics, and movies have all expanded the franchise beyond those original movies. For the most part, these iterations have all enjoyed some degree of success, but no franchise lasts forever.

Ghostbusters has run its course in many ways, and survived longer than could be expected, with so many years between major motion pictures. The story always revolves around a group of outcasts, on the fringe of society, who perform an incredible and unique service fighting off the supernatural and keeping the worlds between the living and dead separate. However, things have gotten more repetitive with this story, and it isn't helped by the setting constantly coming back to New York City.

In order for a franchise to keep audiences engaged, it needs fresh new stories. The films and the characters should change and evolve over time. A story about a family that fights ghosts could potentially have that potential for growth, but it hasn't been explored in great detail in the movies. Despite this, franchises continue to be expanded and reinvented repeatedly in Hollywood as they turn to projects that previously saw success. For that reason, Ghostbusters will probably continue in some way, but things could look very different.

2 Ghostbusters Has Lost Its Quirkiness

The Erosion of It's Unique Appeal

Ghostbusters excelled due to the original and unique concept of a bunch of oddball ghost hunters trying to make it in New York City. The movie was comical and fun, with a concept that seemed completely different to anything else in theaters. This made it stand out, and with the array of talent that was featured in the first movie, it became a huge success.

Taking the surreal and putting it into a real setting is no longer the unique and defining gimmick that it used to be.

This quirkiness stuck with the series into the 1989 Ghostbusters 2, and continued to excite audiences in the cartoons and other stories which expanded the franchise. However, over the last couple of decades, this kind of quirky, supernatural comedy/action story has become more common place. Taking the surreal and putting it into a real setting is no longer the unique and defining gimmick that it used to be.

With that in mind, Ghostbusters is no longer the leader in the space it helped create. Movies like Men in Black provided a slightly different story, which fell into a largely similar box, with beings that appear beyond imagination appearing and causing havoc. Meanwhile, special agents are the world's only hope to stop the threat. Now, projects like Tim Burton's Wednesday occupy a similar space, and it feels as though Ghostbusters has lost the things that made it special in the first place.

1 Ghostbusters Is Becoming Too Costly For What It's Worth

The Financial Strain of High-Quality CGI and Star-Studded Casts

With modern sci-fi movies being packed with cutting edge CGI, special effects are at the forefront of many movies. However, the cost of this CGI is considerable, both in of time and money. Movies about fantasy or the supernatural are expected to have convincing CGI, and Ghostbusters is no exception. The franchise may have excelled on a $30 million budget in 1984, but modern CGI can rack up the cost for films.

With many movies that cast huge stars, some of the biggest chunks of the budget go to paying their wages

In addition, the competition of other sci-fi movies and shows are delivering these effects to a high standard, and Ghostbusters can't afford to fall behind. If the franchise wants to compete with other projects in the space, it needs to be willing to spend the money. But this doesn't make financial sense for a franchise that is already failing to make a big profit on their movies. Ultimately, Ghostbusters can't afford to spend huge amount on CGI, and it can't afford to not keep up with competition.

But even beyond this, the franchise has cast some notable actors who continue to grow in star power in Hollywood. Paul Rudd, Mckenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard are all notable celebrities who draw in audiences, and thus can demand a healthy figure for their work. With many movies that cast huge stars, some of the biggest chunks of the budget go to paying their wages. Potentially, more unknown actors would be a much more affordable option, but bringing back the current stars would likely become more and more expensive with each Ghostbusters sequel.