'Ghostbusters' Sequel Unlikely As Film Looks Poised To Post $70 Million Loss

It looks like Sony‘s optimism for “Ghostbusters” earlier this summer is now quickly fading. Before the film opened, producer Amy Pascal declared, “People are going to love this movie so much that they’re going to demand more and more.” And following its decent but not spectacular launch in theaters, Sony’s President of Worldwide Distribution Rory Bruer stated, “There’s no doubt in my mind [a sequel] will happen.” Well, the cold hard reality of how the movie has performed has settled in and it looks like “Ghostbusters” will be the first and last proton pack adventure for Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.

THR reports that “Ghostbusters” is set to post a loss somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million. The picture, which cost $144 million to produce, will earn $225 million worldwide in a best case scenario, but likely less. And it’s not great news for a movie that the trade says needed to earn $300 million worldwide to break even (director Paul Feig was quoted earlier this year saying “Ghostbusters” had to make $500 million to be considered successful).

While Sony says the loss will be offset from merchandising and other revenue streams, the bottom line is that “Ghostbusters” didn’t perform the way the studio wanted. And so, the focus is now on animation, with the studio aiming for a new TV series to launch in 2018, and a feature film (announced last fall) in 2019. Sony is also taking a similar path with Spider-Man; while we’re getting “Spider-Man: Homecoming” next year, the studio is also working on a separate animated feature as well. Given how animated movies have been performing this year (“Zootopia,” “Finding Dory,” “The Secret Life Of Pets“) maybe that’s not such a bad idea, and I can only imagine the overhead is bit lower than a live-action tentpole production.

Thoughts? Did Paul Feig and co. deserve another opportunity to bust ghosts? Let us know in the comments section.