It’s…fine?

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire performed as more conservative projections had it, earning $45 million for the weekend according to estimates. That’s below far more bullish predictions which were claiming it could pass the $50 million mark, but for the time being, this franchise isn’t in a position to produce those kind of numbers. In fact, for those keeping score, Frozen Empire’s premiere is virtually identical to those of Afterlife ($44 million) and female Ghostbusters 2016 ($46 million).

As a film series, Ghostbusters is an odd ghost duck. The original, of course, was a massive, massive hit in 1984 (40 years ago? Sheesh!). Ghostbusters II scored the best opening of all time when it came out in 1989, a record it hilariously kept for only one week as Batman slaughtered it the following weekend. From there, many, many attempts were made for Ghostbusters III which never took off, until finally Ghostbusters 2016 happened, with a new cast, a focus on broad comedy, and a climax that attempted to turn it into The Avengers. In hindsight, I kind of suspect that many of the positive reviews that movie got were done to counter the internet discourse, but in any case, Sony scrapped any plans for a sequel and went back to spooky square one with a “sort of” Ghostbusters III in the form of Afterlife. I can’t help but wonder how much better Afterlife might have done if 2016 Ghostbusters hadn’t happened, but as things stand, both movies essentially brought in the same amount of money ($128 million vs. $129 million).

So can we call Frozen Empire a hit? I mean, yeah, we kind of have to. $45 million is nothing to sneeze at in March, but really, we’re seeing no signs of the audiences for these flicks growing. As with Afterlife, marketing for Empire (of which there was plenty; I feel like I’ve already seen the whole movie!) stressed the nostalgia aspect, while also selling it as an outing for the whole family. I’m not sure if that’s going to keep working for entries moving forward. The “edge” (for want of a better term) of the original Ghostbusters is kind of gone now, and it might be time to let go of Stay Puft if they want to get it back in the future.

As for the other newcomers, we have Immaculate, which some thought might see bigger dollar signs due to the presence of rising star Sydney Sweeney. That was never going to happen as this was a NEON release, and while $5 million sounds like a weak opening on paper, it’s more or less solid for what it is. That said, look for the other evil birth movie The First Omen to do much larger business when it opens in April. And speaking of Satan, Late Night With The Devil–a dark horror comedy (at least I think it’s a comedy?) that many of you probably haven’t heard of–found its way into the top six with $2 million, which is actually great for a smaller release like this. Lastly, I must give a “shout out” to Luca, which got “re-released” with a simply terrible $500,500 opening. Surely, this must be due to some contractional obligation with Pixar, as there is no way that Disney isn’t losing money off of these reissues.

Anyway, the top ten, via Deadline

1.) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Sony) 4,345 theaters, Fri $16M Sat $16.8M Sun $12.3M 3-day $45.2M/Wk 1

2.) Dune: Part Two (Leg/WB) 3,437 theaters (-410), Fri $4.5M (-44%) Sat $7.7M Sun $5.4M, 3-day $17.6M (-38%)/Total $233.3M/Wk 4

3.) Kung Fu Panda 4 (Uni/DWA) 3,805 (-262) theaters, Fri $4M (-54%) Sat $7.6M Sun $5.1M, 3-day $16.8M (-44%), Total $133.2M/Wk 3

4.) Immaculate (NEON) 2,354 theaters, Fri $2M, Sat $2M Sun $1.3M 3-day $5.36M/Wk 1

5.)Arthur the King (LG) 3,003 theaters, Fri $1.1M (-61%) Sat $1.9M Sun $1.2M 3-day $4.36M (-43%), Total $14.6M/Wk 2

6.) Late Night With the Devil (IFC),1034 theaters Fri $1.1M Sat $1M Sun $733K 3-day $2.833M/Wk 1

7.) Imaginary (LG) 2,513 theaters (-605), Fri $760K Sat $1.27M Sun $765K 3-day $2.8M (-49%), Total $23.6M /Wk 3

8.) Love Lies Bleeding (A24) 1,828 theaters (+466) Fri $484K Sat $630K Sun $472K, 3-day $1.58M (-37%), Total $5.68M/Wk 3

9.) Cabrini (Angel) 1,765 (-1,085) theaters, Fri $410K Sat $576K $432K 3-day $1.4M (-50%) Total $16.1M/Wk 3

10.) Bob Marley: One Love (Par) 1,266 theaters (-1066) Fri $295K (-57%), Sat $490K, Sun $315K 3-day $1.03M (-40%), Total $95.3M/Wk 6