Discuss Ghostbusters: Afterlife, released on November 19, 2021 and directed by Jason Reitman.
#4939117
Dr.D wrote: September 11th, 2020, 2:13 pm Agreed. I think the other issue is audience reluctance. Let's say for the sake of argument that a vaccine is somehow ready for mass production and inoculation by late Jan-early Feb...the actual application of a vaccine is gonna take months to dole out to the masses (let's not forget there will absolutely be sectors of the population who won't get vaccinated), people won't be ready to climb back into a crowded theater. For as many people as there are who want things to just go back to normal, there are just as many who will never see things in that light again. So even in that scenario, March wouldn't be a good release target. I'd say by Halloween the movie will be delayed again. Maybe to the Holidays of 2021 just to keep it safe.
The other problem is this: Ghostbusters isn’t a film that travels well. So while movies like Tenet can open to decent numbers and make up the difference worldwide, Ghostbusters isn’t like that.

I don’t know. The numbers on Tenet are encouraging but at the same time, studios want to make money. Here’s how I think things are going to go from now until a vaccine is ready: We’ll see token theatrical releases with a 3-4 week exclusivity period and then digital.

One of these studios is going to have to bite the bullet and release something like Wonder Woman 84 or Black Widow. That’s the only way to really judge how people will react. If either of those can open to more than 50 million? Ghostbusters will open in March.
#4939120
No studio is out there to make a movie that does "okay". Especially when it is part of a storied franchise that your company is DESPERATE to relaunch as an in-house IP. Sony cares about the potential bottom line and I don't see them releasing this movie within any window where they don't feel they can reach the full audience. Given that medical experts are saying theaters won't be truly safe until well after a vaccine is found (if one is) I don't think Sony will want to release in march.
#4939122
Dr.D wrote: September 11th, 2020, 3:58 pm No studio is out there to make a movie that does "okay". Especially when it is part of a storied franchise that your company is DESPERATE to relaunch as an in-house IP. Sony cares about the potential bottom line and I don't see them releasing this movie within any window where they don't feel they can reach the full audience. Given that medical experts are saying theaters won't be truly safe until well after a vaccine is found (if one is) I don't think Sony will want to release in march.
There’s so many variables to this. One of the big ones is the theatres themselves. The studios have to release a product to keep theatres open. Tenet was a good start. It got people back into the theatre, if those people felt safe then the expectation is they’ll tell their friends and so on and so forth. Keep in mind Tenet did about 20 million despite most theatres mandating 25% occupancy. Mixed with the major LA and New York markets closed...it’s a good sign.

As things stand right now? There’s a 50/50 chance GBA opens in March. I expect Wonder Woman 84 will get delayed to late November or Christmas. But that first *big* franchise release will be telling.

Edit: Ha! Weird. Just announced Wonder Woman is now delayed until Christmas Day.
#4939128
timeware wrote: September 4th, 2020, 9:18 pm What I don't want to see is the next trailer released on release day like Bill and Ted. Two trailers, almost nothing until it launched on digital. I haven't seen it but I plan to this or next weekend.
Not sure where this impression came from. Orion Pictures released the first trailer for Bill & Ted Face the Music on June 9th, 2020 (dated YouTube upload here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hAL7emClFM), and the second trailer on July 23rd, 2020 (dated YouTube upload here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPGeAYo3yU). There was no third trailer, and the movie was released August 28th, 2020, so over a month between the second and final trailer and the film's release. The rollout is shortened (normally I'd expect maybe 3 months between trailers), but two to three is generally the norm (with the consideration that international variants are still essentially the same trailer).
mrmichaelt wrote: September 9th, 2020, 8:23 pm I suppose worth noting here, at Bank of America’s 2020 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tony Vinciquerra said, "What we won't do is make the mistake of putting a very, very expensive $200 million movie out in the market unless we're sure that theaters are open and operating at significant capacity."
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/sony- ... -to-norma/
Just in case anyone misunderstands this, it's still safe to say that Afterlife cost under $100m based on Aykroyd's comments re: the budget of Ghostbusters (2016).
Dr.D wrote: September 11th, 2020, 2:13 pmLet's say for the sake of argument that a vaccine is somehow ready for mass production and inoculation by late Jan-early Feb...the actual application of a vaccine is gonna take months to dole out to the masses (let's not forget there will absolutely be sectors of the population who won't get vaccinated), people won't be ready to climb back into a crowded theater.
Unfortunately, Dr. Fauci agrees with you: https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-w ... ine-2020-9
#4939131
droidguy1119 wrote: September 11th, 2020, 6:46 pm Just in case anyone misunderstands this, it's still safe to say that Afterlife cost under $100m based on Aykroyd's comments
Yes, in May 2019, Dan Aykroyd told CTV, "It's definitely going to be way under $100 (million). I would think. Movies cost a lot today. It can't be $30 (million), $50 (million) would be stretching it. I don't know. Listen, it's going to be as little as we can spend." And it's important to note, the actual movie's budget has not been revealed (or really reported on).
#4939132
mrmichaelt wrote: September 11th, 2020, 9:50 pm
droidguy1119 wrote: September 11th, 2020, 6:46 pm Just in case anyone misunderstands this, it's still safe to say that Afterlife cost under $100m based on Aykroyd's comments
Yes, in May 2019, Dan Aykroyd told CTV, "It's definitely going to be way under $100 (million). I would think. Movies cost a lot today. It can't be $30 (million), $50 (million) would be stretching it. I don't know. Listen, it's going to be as little as we can spend." And it's important to note, the actual movie's budget has not been revealed (or really reported on).
Nor is it wise to trust ANYTHING Dan Aykroyd says. His comments on the GB16 reshoots and Paul Feig show why. No budget has been released. There was a woman that worked with the Alberta film department who said it was 170 million but that can’t be right either(unless she was talking in Canadian dollars).

My personal guess is 120 million. That’s based on nothing but cast, practical and visual effects costs & number of shoot days. But it could easily be anywhere from 80-140 million. The longer GBA goes without release the higher that budget gets.


Film production budgets are a messy business anyways. They’ve got rebates, interest, above & below the line costs. And rarely is the reported number the true number. Hollywood accounting.
#4939134
RichardLess wrote: September 11th, 2020, 11:02 pm There was a woman that worked with the Alberta film department who said it was 170 million but that can’t be right either(unless she was talking in Canadian dollars).

My personal guess is 120 million. That’s based on nothing but cast, practical and visual effects costs & number of shoot days. But it could easily be anywhere from 80-140 million. The longer GBA goes without release the higher that budget gets.
Was that reported on a website? But interesting. Yeah, if she was talking 170m in Canadian Dollars, that is roughly $130m USD.
#4939136
I refuse to watch a crappy low bite rate compressed to hell version as my first viewing.

I don't care if takes until 2022. This film deserves a proper release.
#4939137
mrmichaelt wrote: September 11th, 2020, 11:50 pm
RichardLess wrote: September 11th, 2020, 11:02 pm There was a woman that worked with the Alberta film department who said it was 170 million but that can’t be right either(unless she was talking in Canadian dollars).

My personal guess is 120 million. That’s based on nothing but cast, practical and visual effects costs & number of shoot days. But it could easily be anywhere from 80-140 million. The longer GBA goes without release the higher that budget gets.
Was that reported on a website? But interesting. Yeah, if she was talking 170m in Canadian Dollars, that is roughly $130m USD.
Yeah. I can’t remember where. There’s a forum somewhere on here about the box office and budget of GBA and there’s a link somewhere in there. It was a local paper from Calgary if memory serves.
#4939138
Marketing Fees will raise the need for higher box office...
https://archive.vn/20200703203216/https ... 234693356/

"Film executives privately estimate that pushing “Mulan” or “Tenet” a few weeks at a time could amount to losing $200,000 to $400,000 in marketing fees — essentially negligible costs for a major studio in the grand scheme of unveiling a new movie. Depending on various factors, that number could increase to just under $5 million if they are delayed again without sufficient notice. That’s because the bulk of a film’s promotional and advertising efforts run in the two weeks prior to its release. So far, the release date changes have fallen outside that window.
Marketing a tentpole movie, which often carry production budgets between $100 million to $200 million, is an expensive proposition in any climate. It includes everything from 30-second TV commercials and billboards to splashy, star-studded premieres that routinely shut down Hollywood Boulevard. Studios begin executing those endeavors around six weeks before a movie is set to release — sometimes earlier during a competitive time of year like summer moviegoing season."

Both “Mulan” and “Tenet” were in a worse spot than Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently, but Sony probably burned $50 million so far on marketing fees as I remember the trailer showing up on entertainment shows and whatnot. All that pretty much is a loss at this point as the film's promotion will itself need a reboot. No fault to anyone, it just is how it is.

As already noted, Dan says its budget was under $50 back in May. So right now they might reasonably release it with costs of $250 to $300 counting in marketing. I'm assuming marketing costs will be $150 to $200. It has to make double of all that to be viewed as a success. So $500 to $550. Good luck trying to do that in March. I honestly can't see Sony being able to release this til they got a good distance away from the Pandemic. That likely won't happen.

So far Sony made the right choice throwing it back a 9 months, knowing it be a pretty tall order to promote it and release it during the pandemic. Sony would be wise to push it back atleast 4 or 5 months longer or even as a film for October next year. All predictions I've read were clearly thinking this be over by August. It is not and looking to now be a issue up til December, and then it will start to go down. Doubt it will be that positive, but you gotta have a bit of hope with all these lemons. Ultimately, delaying it is a better move than taking a loss. Taking a loss is pretty much kills any hope for a sequel to the spin-off film.
#4939139
RichardLess wrote: September 12th, 2020, 2:15 am Yeah. I can’t remember where. There’s a forum somewhere on here about the box office and budget of GBA and there’s a link somewhere in there. It was a local paper from Calgary if memory serves.
Thanks. I went to the box office thread and saw droidguy mention it on August 11, 2019 so I did some back tracking on this thread to that date to see when it was mentioned and it was in this article:
http://www.tabertimes.com/news/2019/08/ ... this-week/

Here's the quote:
"We are really excited to be bringing this $170 million dollar-plus production into the town of Fort Macleod. It goes a long way into helping our economy as well as putting the town of Fort Macleod on the map,” said Sue Keenan, CAO for Fort Macleod.
#4939140
Having worked at several movie theaters, i can tell you this for sure, even if every single theater in the country opened tomorrow at 25% capacity, you would barely make enough money to keep the doors open, let alone the theater or any studio to turn a profit.

As Rob Bernette is so fond of saying on the Jon Campea podcast (a great movie youtube channel btw) its called Show Buisness, not show friends...

Lets be brutally blunt here. The only reason Ghostbusters Afterlife was even greenlit and shot, was because the backlash on the reboot was so strong and Sony outside of the Marvel movies they were making, had no real franchise of their own.

When Men in Black International tanked last year, they knew they needed Ghostbusters Afterlife to generate a profit just to say they have a viable franchise they own full sale outright!

This pandemic screwed over hollywood for years to come. Sony, so far is playing it smart, because they DONT have alot of money to burn like disney, which right now im told is hemorrhaging money like crazy.

While it sucked for us GB Fans, delaying the movie was the right move (it was inevitable) and delaying it from March might be necessary if the world is not back in a reasonable state where the movie stands a chance at turning a profit.

Lets say tomorrow, theres a vaccine released...(it will realistically be around christmas or the first of the new year). You got 2 major problems now, mass distributing it and getting people to take it cause theirs a lot of idiots out there who even refuse to except their is a virus, let alone will take any vaccine!

So lets say you distribute it and by march you have at best, 25% of the population taking it, thats still not enough to safely open theaters to full capacity.

Also, how are theaters supposed to check to see if you got a vaccine in the first place? Ask? People lie all the time. Hell as an usher you have no idea how many stupid ass obvious lies and cons i witnessed just so some cheep bastard could skimp out of paying 5 bucks for a matinee ticket on a dead Tuesday afternoon in the middle of the winter!

If they will lie about that, they will lie about getting a vaccine. Even if their was some kind of Card system proving you got the vaccine (which would go over as well as a fart in a elevator) people would create a fake card, or lie and say they forgot theirs, etc..

You think your average teenager or 20 year old usher getting barely minimum pay with less then 20 hours a week of work, is going to give a crap about checking all this stuff? No!

You could flash them a card for a free taco at bobs taco and break repair joint and the usher would act like its a vaccine card and let them in.

So what do you do? Not much. Wait until the summer maybe? Problem there...the movie gets lost in the shuffle of other major blockbusters that were supposed to be out this year. (if theaters are even fully open by next summer which is a big maybe)

Hold back until halloween or the holidays? Again, still going to be a packed season! Go digital? Unlikely at this point, but they may have to just to stand a chance in hell at making any money and even if they did, it wouldent be enough to turn a profit, let alone sustain the franchise.

I have no idea what you do to be honest. As of right now the March 5th release date is holding but i fully expect that to change until the summer or just go digital at that point. Its all up to sony!
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#4939145
But really...if you were going to update such an iconic prop for the modern age, I can imagine few people better equipped to redesign it while understanding the elements that make the props so memorable. He's such a nerd at heart I trust him to know what we as fans would wanna see as a new proton pack.
#4939148
Dr.D wrote: September 12th, 2020, 3:48 pm Good point, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was maybe a consultant for the production design.
I can tell you for a fact that Adam Savage would turn that job down out of fear of an actual working designer would lose work from it. He’s that type of dude. He wouldn’t take that job. I’m sure he’d love to do it, but there’s people that do this stuff for a living & it’s hard enough as it is.
#4939154
Interesting. I posted here a few weeks ago about the possible motives for Disney not releasing Mulan in theatres(politics). Looks like there might have been something to that, though they are still taking it on the chin. I’d love to know what kind of numbers they are doing thru the Disney+ app. Although they also announced it would be available to everyone for free in December.
#4939155
devilmanozzy wrote: September 12th, 2020, 5:47 am

Both “Mulan” and “Tenet” were in a worse spot than Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently, but Sony probably burned $50 million so far on marketing fees as I remember the trailer showing up on entertainment shows and whatnot. All that pretty much is a loss at this point as the film's promotion will itself need a reboot. No fault to anyone, it just is how it is.

Anything to back that guess up?

$50 million huh?

Naw.
#4939156
I fully expect this to slip to Sept/Oct 2021. Or even Spring 2022. If Sony can afford to hold it back.

The West won't be ready to open up by March, because there's no way a vaccine is ready, but also because we're heading for a potential flashpoint in US / UK democracy. The disruption of a Trump second term and No Deal Brexit are unknowns which will have serious repercussions. I can't see Sony holding a March date, unless by that point the streaming options are known to be more bankable.

If the beginning of 2021 is marked by lockdown, growing civil unrest and economic collapse, a trip to the cinema will be the bottom of everyone's priorities.
#4939159
We have several vaccines ending human trials fairly soon, one just paused for safety reasons. Politics be damned if FDA doesn't slow walk approval we'll have one by October the latest. More likely after November depending who's elected but the media's been spreading unnecessary fear about a vaccine being safely ready during Trump's administration.

Richardless can call these Hannity talking points because I predict he will but that's what's going on. These vaccines the talking heads are concerned about will be the same vaccines the FDA will approve if Joe Hiden get's elected. I honestly don't expect the release date to get pushed that far back.
#4939160
timeware wrote: September 13th, 2020, 9:26 am Politics be damned if FDA doesn't slow walk approval we'll have one by October the latest.
I'd rather the FDA do it's damned job and make sure it's gone through the required testing before it's released to the general public, the last thing we want is something being rushed through and resulting in problems that could've been avoided by not fast-tracking it.

And seeing as several companies have pledged "not before it's ready" in light of certain individuals trying to use a vaccine to influence the election, It's my hope that it'll only become readily available when it's safe to release it.
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