[Alphagaia]

There are 60 movies on atomtickets.com’s calendar between now and Afterlife’s release in March. It’ll be interesting to see how many hold their dates or push back.

I feel this is the best course of action at the moment and Sony is probably monitoring the entire business and see what everyone else is doing.

There are pro and cons to digital streaming. However if there are no cinemas left to have a showing those cons suddenly become at lot less problematic, but it all depends on how much of an impact this will have on cinemas until they have adapted and the virus is under control.

Hell, the movie business might even consider showings in Europe and other safe places and wait on America (or decide to go digital) as the US really seems to be behind the rest here.

[Dr.D]

Just popping in to say I've got a few close friends in the medical field who are telling me the earliest we may see a functional vaccine is early spring of next year. Feb-March 2021

[Jake170917]

There are 60 movies on atomtickets.com’s calendar between now and Afterlife’s release in March. It’ll be interesting to see how many hold their dates or push back.

I feel this is the best course of action at the moment and Sony is probably monitoring the entire business and see what everyone else is doing.

There are pro and cons to digital streaming. However if there are no cinemas left to have a showing those cons suddenly become at lot less problematic, but it all depends on how much of an impact this will have on cinemas until they have adapted and the virus is under control.

Hell, the movie business might even consider showings in Europe and other safe places and wait on America (or decide to go digital) as the US really seems to be behind the rest here.

I was just thinking about the chance of them doing a digital release in the US and still doing a theatrical release overseas in safe areas. I have no idea if that is an option for them or not, but definitely an interesting scenario.

I will admit, I was 100% on the side of I want to see it in theaters first. But as more time passes, I'm getting to the point where I just want to see the movie. I'm sure they're monitoring everything very closely. But if things are still up in the air this fall/winter, I'd think they would have to make a decision on keeping the March release date or moving it. I couldn't see them pushing the release back again, but I could be completely wrong of course. If the March release becomes up in the air, I think a digital release becomes a real possibility with a drive-in theater release at the same time.

[JonXCTrack]

Just popping in to say I've got a few close friends in the medical field who are telling me the earliest we may see a functional vaccine is early spring of next year. Feb-March 2021

My father is in the medical field and he says that usually vaccines are tested for years. Even if a vaccine is ready, it may prove to be ineffective due to the lack of time to test and study it. Moreover, not all people develop titres for viruses. Finally, like the flu, there are different strains of coronavirus. It may provide some benefits, but is not a "cure-all." He also says that cloth masks are useless against COVID-19 and that if we're going to be doing reopening, we may as well not have a mask requirement because a majority of people are using cloth masks and not surgical masks. It really pisses him off that media outlets will say "well experts have mixed opinions." He says the fact the virus has spread so rapidly all over the U.S. is proof that cloth masks are useless.

[SpaceBallz]

I think if bill & ted 3 makes bank then Sony will rethink their release strategy.

[groschopf]

He says the fact the virus has spread so rapidly all over the U.S. is proof that cloth masks are useless.

If we had 90-95% of Americans wearing masks and the virus spread, I'd believe that. But compliance has been horrifyingly low for mask use in most states.

Basically, we've tried nothing and it isn't working -- yet other counties have gotten it under control.

Japan? Great about using masks ever since the 1919 flu pandemic. If the Japanese get a cough or a cold, they mask up. They've handled this exceedingly well.

[JonXCTrack]

He says the fact the virus has spread so rapidly all over the U.S. is proof that cloth masks are useless.

If we had 90-95% of Americans wearing masks and the virus spread, I'd believe that. But compliance has been horrifyingly low for mask use in most states.

Basically, we've tried nothing and it isn't working -- yet other counties have gotten it under control.

Japan? Great about using masks ever since the 1919 flu pandemic. If the Japanese get a cough or a cold, they mask up. They've handled this exceedingly well.

Two problems here: first, compliance is high in the states that have been hit the hardest, like California, New York, and Massachusetts. Second, it took 2 years for the 1918 flu to subside. If cloth masks worked so well, it wouldn’t have taken so long. That speaks more to herd immunity.

[Michael Scott]

Can we not? Please?

[Coover5]

The plague doctor who haunts my house says we need to try leeches.

[tylergfoster]

It's definitely possible that Bill & Ted 3 will open the gates for more movies to go to digital, but keep in mind: Bill & Ted 3 cost $25m, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife probably cost roughly 4 times that amount. Trolls 2, one of, if not the most profitable VOD premiere of all time, made about $90m its opening weekend. Analysts said it was possible it could hit $200m, but Universal never confirmed it even reached that milestone. $90m alone would be great for Bill & Ted 3, but anything less than $280m would be bad for Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Also, not to jinx it, but with A Quiet Place Part II and Top Gun: Maverick just announced tonight as having settled into roughly full-year delays, I would start emotionally preparing to wait until July 2021.

[Alphagaia]

The plague doctor who haunts my house says we need to try leeches.

I mean, it worked for him, right?

[mrmichaelt]

It's definitely possible that Bill & Ted 3 will open the gates for more movies to go to digital, but keep in mind: Bill & Ted 3 cost $25m, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife probably cost roughly 4 times that amount. Trolls 2, one of, if not the most profitable VOD premiere of all time, made about $90m its opening weekend. Analysts said it was possible it could hit $200m, but Universal never confirmed it even reached that milestone. $90m alone would be great for Bill & Ted 3, but anything less than $280m would be bad for Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Also, not to jinx it, but with A Quiet Place Part II and Top Gun: Maverick just announced tonight as having settled into roughly full-year delays, I would start emotionally preparing to wait until July 2021.

Hmm. I remember Dan Aykroyd was saying the budget was going to be under $100 million. I think he said between 50 and a 100. He was talking to CTV last year around early summer I believe.

[RichardLess]

Ghostbusters Afterlife will not go to digital first. Sony will delay to 2022 before releasing it on digital.

Ghostbusters Afterlife won’t be coming out prior to March 2021.

It won’t be released digitally

And cloth masks are not useless.


As long as Tom Rothman is running Sony Pictures, Ghostbusters is getting a theatrical release & not digital.


So far no studio has released a major IP straight to digital. I don’t expect that to change.

[JonXCTrack]

Ghostbusters Afterlife will not go to digital first. Sony will delay to 2022 before releasing it on digital.

Ghostbusters Afterlife won’t be coming out prior to March 2021.

It won’t be released digitally

And cloth masks are not useless.


As long as Tom Rothman is running Sony Pictures, Ghostbusters is getting a theatrical release & not digital.


So far no studio has released a major IP straight to digital. I don’t expect that to change.

Sure thing, Chief.

[Alphagaia]

I'm so happy we have all these studio heads here that know exactly what to do during this very uncertain epidemic.

[JonXCTrack]

I'm so happy we have all these studio heads here that know exactly what to do during this very uncertain epidemic.

At least Amy Pascal isn't in charge any longer.

[Bison256]

Ghostbusters Afterlife will not go to digital first. Sony will delay to 2022 before releasing it on digital.

Ghostbusters Afterlife won’t be coming out prior to March 2021.

It won’t be released digitally

And cloth masks are not useless.


As long as Tom Rothman is running Sony Pictures, Ghostbusters is getting a theatrical release & not digital.


So far no studio has released a major IP straight to digital. I don’t expect that to change.

They're going to have to figure something out if AMC shuts down. AMC has a near monopoly in many regions if they're gone there wont be any theaters to release too!

[RichardLess]

Ghostbusters Afterlife will not go to digital first. Sony will delay to 2022 before releasing it on digital.

Ghostbusters Afterlife won’t be coming out prior to March 2021.

It won’t be released digitally

And cloth masks are not useless.


As long as Tom Rothman is running Sony Pictures, Ghostbusters is getting a theatrical release & not digital.


So far no studio has released a major IP straight to digital. I don’t expect that to change.

They're going to have to figure something out if AMC shuts down. AMC has a near monopoly in many regions if they're gone there wont be any theaters to release too!

Those theatres will still be there. I don’t know if they will have the name “AMC” on them, but they’ll still be there.

Movie theatres will still be a thing. There a dozens of options that exist before demolishing a movie theatre chain. This isn’t “Blockbuster” where those stores can be easily converted into something else. Most movies theatres are purpose built.

Here are some options: A) AMC hangs on and makes it thru. B) Government bails them out C) Hollywood studios band Together and form a co-op conglomerate that takes over the theatres—this is currently prevented by an old law that can easily be changed due to the changing times D) Someone steps in and buys AMC.

Movies and movie going are such a huge part of our culture that no matter what doom and gloom prognosticators predict about the industry and viewing habits and falling ticket sales and now a pandemic, I believe they will always be here.

Let’s face. Nothing beats seeing a great movie with a crowd of people. You can feel the electricity in the air, the anticipation, the suspense. And when those lights dim and that screen lights up? It’s better than any church. It’s magic.

Here’s another thing. Studios and filmmakers are itching to be the first movie that brings people back to the theatres. I suspect that the first big audience pleasing movie to be released after all this is over is going to be huge. And ghostbusters is positioned quite well to possibly be that film. Christopher Nolan wanted to be that guy and that film. But they bet too early

[Dr.D]

I can guarantee you, every single exec out here in LA wants to have the movie that brings people back to theaters. And yes Ghostbusters is very well poised to be that movie. They want people to see this in theaters.

[yourbigpalal83]

Heres the thing... No way shape or form is Afterlife going streaming BEFORE March 5th. Just not happening.

That said...After March 5th and we are still in this mess, (which is very well possible) then MAYBE it might stream. Doubt it though.

At worse they will push it back into the summer. But there is still a major issue there. Its going to be the summer of 89 all over again and its going to get clobbered by other major releases.

That said, if NEXT SUMMER we are still in this mess, then i see them just saying screw it, put it out on digital because its less then a 100 million dollar film.

All these other huge releases that got delayed a year are 100 million plus movies hands down. You cant come close to profiting off a movie that expensive digitally.

Greyhound, the Tom Hanks Movie that sony produced cost 50 million to put out, went digitally because it wasn't posed as a major money maker and they dont have plans for a franchise from it. Its a stand alone film. Apple scooped it up!

Afterlife is meant to save the franchise. Sony WANTS and NEEDS a continuing ghostbusters franchise because that and Men in Black are the only two franchises they own outright...

Their marvel deal is a partnership with marvel and alot of fans of the MCU (me being one of them) view them as kinda knockoff marvel movies. They will never stand alone and compete with the Disney owned MCU and everytime sony makes one of them, Marvel and Disney get a cut (i dont know the exact terms of the deal but they make money otherwise they couldent use the characters or brand name)

Men In Black is dead. Unless will smith comes back to do a 5th film, its a dead brand after International. (god i cant believed i paid to own that movie without seeing it first that was stupid on my part)

Ghostbusters is its one big brand name they got left that can generate some level of cash but after Answer the call, its a damaged brand pure and simple.

Answer the call lost 75 million at the box office (for a whole bunch of reasons which I'm not going into).

The very fact we are getting Afterlife and a return to the classic timeline proves Sony is desperate and needs this to restart the brand.

You put it on streaming, i promise you we will never get another major ghostbusters film in theaters ever again because it will lose money.

But if you put it in a crowded market place the moment its safe for the world to return to theaters..its going to get lost in the shuffle.

Now the upshot is, they dident spend a fortune on this thing. The bad new is, it wont as much as it could have had this pandemic not happened!

Its really a no win situation!

Now with other movies being delayed...i wont be shocked if we get delayed yet again.. Those dominos are falling quickly.

If we go into the holiday season with no word of a delay...good sign.

But if they are going to delay it, expect the news to drop within the next few months (October by the latest) cause come November and December, you want to push your marketing for an early march release!

[Coover5]

My contacts say Ghostbusters 3 will never be released but expect Ghostbusters 4 sometime in 2050.

[RichardLess]

Ghostbusters Afterlife will not go to digital first. Sony will delay to 2022 before releasing it on digital.

Ghostbusters Afterlife won’t be coming out prior to March 2021.

It won’t be released digitally

And cloth masks are not useless.


As long as Tom Rothman is running Sony Pictures, Ghostbusters is getting a theatrical release & not digital.


So far no studio has released a major IP straight to digital. I don’t expect that to change.

Sure thing, Chief.

Your sarcasm aside, I think it’s dangerous that you are going around peddling non sense that cloth masks are useless. That’s just not true. Are they as effective as N95’s? No. But they are better than no mask at all. If someone sneezes are coughs near you, a cloth mask can help prevent inhalation. If you cough or sneeze, a cloth mask can help reduce the amount of saliva and snot that flies out of your mouth.

So please. Reconsider the “useless” label. There are better options than cloth, 100%. But they are not useless. You know what’s useless? Doing nothing & not wearing any protection.

[Dr.D]

Alright fellas. Let's save the debate for uh...somewhere other than a Ghostbusters message board.

[timeware]

Were suffering from cabin fever man, cabin fever! Still though masks aren't useless. As much as I dislike them they give me some sense of protection when I have to venture out.

Unfortunately a ton of idiots no longer observe wearing masks.

[deadderek]

It's strange to me the only active content we're getting is clips from the 1st 2 movies every few days on Youtube.

[Davideverona]

It's strange to me the only active content we're getting is clips from the 1st 2 movies every few days on Youtube.

If there's something strange,
on your YouTube,
who ya gonna call?

[Kingpin]

As RichardLess noted, a cloth mask, even if it's effectiveness isn't nearly as good as a medical mask, is still better than no mask... However this topic is definitely not the place to be getting bent out of shape over our perceptions of their effectiveness.

[Alphagaia]

Yeah, instead let's debate about Al's insistence to give all his sentences their own seperate line. Makes it so hard to read, man!

Half joking aside, and actual debate: GB, and especially the first one is known for it's many innuendo jokes. (I just watched Cleaning Up the Town where Ramis laughed about the wands originally being attached to the hands, enlongating as Venkman utters the famous line 'make it hard' and very much wanting to keep that.) Afterlife seems to have more of a focus on children. While those are hardly afraid of making a penisjoke in real life, that might not be a good look for wel... obvious reasons.
That being said, I'm sure there will be jokes in that spectrum in the movie. What do you guys think?Jason is very capable of being funny, while also bringing the drama. Will some jokes take a backseat in this sequel, or will Jason embrace a wider range?

[deadderek]

I sincerely hope the film stays closer to the tone of Ghostbusters 1 instead of the very watered down sequel.

[mrmichaelt]

I sincerely hope the film stays closer to the tone of Ghostbusters 1.

Feels like a really safe bet it will. Pretty much from the start, Jason and others have said it will, but will the actual movie do that? We'll see.

That being said, I'm sure there will be jokes in that spectrum in the movie. What do you guys think?Jason is very capable of being funny, while also bringing the drama. Will some jokes take a backseat in this sequel, or will Jason embrace a wider range?

Like will there be dirty jokes and innuendo? Idk, there are teenagers in this movie and Peter and Ray will show up at some point...