Ghostbusters (2016 film)

Ghostbusters (alternatively known as Ghostbusters: Answer the Call) is a 2016 American 3D supernatural comedy film directed by Paul Feig, written by Feig and Katie Dippold and starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth. Telling the story of four women who start a ghost-catching business in New York City, it is the third feature film in the Ghostbusters franchise and serves as a reboot to the previous films.

A third Ghostbusters film had been in the various stages of development following the release of Ghostbusters II in 1989. As a result of original cast member Bill Murray's refusal to commit to the project and the death of fellow cast member Harold Ramis in 2014, Sony decided to reboot the series. Much of the original film's cast make cameo appearances in new roles. The announcement of the female-lead cast in 2015 drew a polarized response from the public and Internet backlash.

Distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on July 9, 2016 and was released theatrically in the United States on July 15, 2016, in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. The film grossed $229 million worldwide against a production budget of $144 million. Due to the high budget and large amount spent on marketing, the film is considered a box office disappointment.

Plot
Physicists Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) and Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) are co-authors of a research book which posits the existence of paranormal phenomena such as ghosts. Erin has disowned the work and become a professor at Columbia University, while Abby continues to study the paranormal at a technical college with eccentric engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). Erin learns Abby has republished the book, threatening her bid for tenure at Columbia. She reunites with Abby and, in exchange for Abby removing the book from publication, reluctantly agrees to assist her and Jillian in a paranormal investigation.

The group witness a malevolent ghost (Bess Rous), renewing Erin's belief in the paranormal. However, a video of their investigation is posted online, and Erin is denied tenure. She joins Abby and Jillian's project, but when a new institute director learns its nature, he fires them. They open an office above a Chinese restaurant and call themselves the "Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination." They build equipment to study and capture ghosts, and hire dimwitted but handsome Kevin Beckman (Chris Hemsworth) as a receptionist.

MTA worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) witnesses a ghost in a subway line and contacts the group. They document the ghost and successfully test Jillian's proton containment laser, but their findings are again dismissed. They continue to develop their technology and advertise their services as what pundits have dubbed the "Ghostbusters". Patty joins the team, providing historical knowledge of New York City and a repurposed hearse, "Ecto-1".

Unbeknownst to them, the ghosts are being summoned by devices built by Rowan North (Neil Casey), an occultist and mad scientist attempting to bring about the "apocalypse". When Rowan plants another device at a live music venue, the Ghostbusters are called in and capture the ghost in front of the audience. When supernatural debunker Dr. Martin Heiss (Bill Murray) challenges the Ghostbusters, the incensed Erin releases the ghost as proof; it throws Heiss out a window, presumably to his death, before escaping. The Ghostbusters are brought to see Mayor Bradley (Andy García) and his loyal secretary, Jennifer Lynch (Cecily Strong), who reveals that the city and the Department of Homeland Security are aware of New York's ghost problem. While privately supporting the team's work, the mayor's office and DHS publicly denounce them as fraudsters.

The Ghostbusters realize Rowan is planting his devices along ley lines which intersect at the Mercado Hotel in Times Square, a site with a history of paranormal activity, and discover Rowan building a portal to the ghost dimension in the hotel basement. To avoid capture, Rowan deliberately electrocutes himself to death, after which Jillian deactivates the portal. Erin discovers a copy of her and Abby's book among Rowan's possessions, and realizes that he killed himself so that he could become a ghost and command a spirit army. Rowan returns as a powerful ghost, possessing Abby and then Kevin. As Kevin, he opens the portal and releases hundreds of ghosts. The police and DHS are quickly subdued, but the Ghostbusters fight through the army of ghosts to reach the portal.

Rowan takes the form of the ghost in the Ghostbusters' logo, grows to enormous height, and attacks the city. The team devises a plan to use Ecto-1's nuclear reactor to close the portal and return the ghosts to their own dimension. The plan succeeds, but Rowan drags Abby into the portal with him; Erin leaps into the portal and rescues her. The mayor's office agrees to secretly fund the Ghostbusters' research while continuing to publicly denounce them as frauds. With new funding, the Ghostbusters move to a better facility, a disused fire house. Despite the mayoral smear campaign (which they ignore), New York lights up with thanks and tributes to the Ghostbusters.

In a post credits scene, Patty listens to a recording of a ghost encounter and asks the others if they have heard of Zuul.

Cast

 * Melissa McCarthy as Dr. Abigail "Abby" Yates, a physicist and paranormal researcher who founds the Ghostbusters with Gilbert and Holtzmann
 * Kristen Wiig as Dr. Erin Gilbert, a physicist who co-founds the Ghostbusters after she loses tenure at Columbia University
 * Kate McKinnon as Dr. Jillian "Holtz" Holtzmann, an eccentric engineer who co-founds the Ghostbusters and builds their equipment
 * Leslie Jones as Patricia "Patty" Tolan, an MTA worker with extensive New York City knowledge who becomes the Ghostbusters' first recruit
 * Chris Hemsworth as Kevin Beckman, the Ghostbusters' handsome but dimwitted secretary
 * Neil Casey as Rowan North, an embittered mad scientist who unleashes ghosts on New York City
 * Andy García as Mayor Bradley
 * Cecily Strong as Jennifer Lynch, the mayor's assistant
 * Charles Dance as Harold Filmore
 * Michael K. Williams as Agent Hawkins
 * Matt Walsh as Agent Rourke
 * Ed Begley Jr. as Ed Mulgrave Jr.
 * Steve Higgins as Dean Thomas Shanks
 * Justin Kirk as Phil Hudson, Erin's boyfriend (Extended Edition)
 * Elizabeth Perkins as Phyllis Adler (Extended Edition)
 * Michael McDonald as Jonathan, a theater manager
 * Karan Soni as Benny
 * Zach Woods as Gareth, a tour guide
 * Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Potter, a guest in the Mercado Hotel (Extended Edition)
 * Brian Baumgartner as Frank, a guest in the Mercado Hotel (Extended Edition)
 * Toby Huss as Officer Stevenson
 * Nate Corddry as a graffiti artist
 * Katie Dippold as a rental agent
 * Jessica Chaffin as a waitress
 * Jamie Denbo as a waitress
 * Bess Rous as Gertrude Aldridge's ghost
 * Dave Allen as an electrocuted ghost
 * Steve Bannos as a flasher ghost
 * Adam Ray as Slimer (voice)
 * Sam Richardson as Basement Cop

Cameos

 * Bill Murray as Martin Heiss, a paranormal debunker
 * Dan Aykroyd as a taxi driver
 * Ernie Hudson as Bill Jenkins, Patty's uncle
 * Sigourney Weaver as Rebecca Gorin, Holtzmann's mentor
 * Annie Potts as Vanessa, the desk clerk at the Mercado Hotel
 * Ozzy Osbourne as himself (listed as "Famous Rock Star")
 * Al Roker as himself
 * Pat Kiernan as himself
 * Greg Kelly as himself
 * Rosanna Scotto as herself

Development
A third Ghostbusters film had been in various stages of development following the release of Ghostbusters II in 1989. Bill Murray, who played Ghostbuster Peter Venkman in the original films, was reluctant to participate as he felt Ghostbusters II had been lackluster and was critical of new scripts he had seen. Dan Aykroyd, who co-starred in and co-wrote the original films, stated that the studio was aware that "without Murray there may be nothing there" for a sequel, and was considering a way to bring on a newer generation of Ghostbusters. One script, Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent, written by Aykroyd in 1999, had Venkman leaving the Ghostbusters to spend time with Sigourney Weaver's character Dana Barrett; the remaining Ghostbusters, including a new younger member, fought souls that had been evicted from a hellish version of Manhattan known as Manhelltan. The Hellbent script was revised as Ghostbusters in Hell, with plans to replace Murray with Ben Stiller. The story had the Ghostbusters finding a portal to an alternate dimension in which "all the worst things about modern urban life" are "magnified"; traffic is stuck in perpetual gridlock and no two people speak the same language. Another story idea had Venkman transformed into a ghost.

The third film remained on the writing table for several years, during which Ghostbusters: The Video Game was developed by Terminal Reality and released in 2009. Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, cowriters of the original films, used the game to explore the Ghostbusters' history; all four original actors, including Murray, voiced their characters, along with other actors from the original films. Aykroyd considered the game to be "essentially the third movie". The game sold over a million units, prompting Columbia to move forward on the Ghostbusters franchise. Ramis stated that the new film would feature the original Ghostbusters but introduce new characters in a script written with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who had cowritten his 2009 comedy Year One. The movie was set to be filmed in 2010 and released in 2011.

Around March 2010, while the new script was being developed, Vulture reported that Columbia wanted to target a younger audience and that original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman was under pressure to step down in place of a younger director. New York reported that Reitman, along with Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis, had long-standing contracts in place with Columbia that effectively allow any of them to veto the development of a Ghostbusters film. Murray had told GQ in 2010 that he felt the script written by Eisenberg and Stupnitsky was poor and "that dream just vaporized", but said that Columbia was pressuring him to make it. Aykroyd defended the script, saying that it offered Murray "the comic role of a lifetime". The script languished as they tried to resolve the disagreement, and in January 2012 Aykroyd stated that the film was in "suspended animation" as Murray was still uncooperative. Aykroyd refused to recast the role as he would not make a film that "exploits the franchise". By July 2012, the Eisenberg/Stupnitsky script had been discarded and new writing staff were working on a script.

Murray's reticence to commit to the project resulted in the decision to reboot the franchise instead. In 2012, Reitman suggested the option of a remake of the original Ghostbusters, allowing them to introduce a new cast. Reitman later stated he was working on a Ghostbusters reboot that would be filmed during 2013, with Etan Cohen, Aykroyd, and himself working on the script, confirmed by Akyroyd in mid-2013. Following Ramis's death in February 2014, Reitman decided to leave the director role in March 2014, wanting to focus on smaller projects, but remained a producer to help Columbia and Sony find a new director for the film. At this point, the script featured the original Ghostbusters in minor roles.

Release
Ghostbusters premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on July 9, 2016. It was theatrically released on July 11, 2016, in the United Kingdom and on July 15, 2016, in the United States. The film will not be released in the Chinese market, with sources reporting that China Film Group Corporation believed it was "not really that attractive to Chinese audiences ... Most of the Chinese audience didn't see the first and second movies, so they don't think there's much market for it here."

Marketing
The first Ghostbusters trailer was released on March 3, 2016. It was viewed 24 million times in 24 hours on Facebook and YouTube, and more than 60 million times across all social media platforms in its first week. The logo Ghostbusters: Answer the Call was used in the third trailer. This was also seen in the film's end credits, but not in the opening title. Director Feig explained, "It was basically the studio realizing for the video catalogs, and that kind of thing, [there would be] two Ghostbusters. ... That sounded like Airport ‘77. The next year, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s an old movie.’ I didn’t want to have to anchor with that, so they basically said they liked [Answer the Call]. ... I just said, ‘Don’t put it on the front of the movie. If you put it on the end, I don’t care.’”

Original Ghostbusters cast members Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson and Potts joined the new cast on the June 8, 2016, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which was entirely dedicated to the new film.

Sony partnered with Snapchat to promote the film with "busting" and "sliming" features. The filter, which features the Ghostbusters logo, allows users to shoot at the character Slimer with their front-facing cameras and a virtual proton pack. In addition, 10-second video teaser ads ran within Snapchat’s Discover section.

Home media
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K on October 11, 2016.