Why These Chris Hemsworth Movies Bombed At The Box Office
Initially, the box office figures for Paul Feig’s 2016 reboot of “Ghostbusters” (which features Chris Hemsworth as ditzy but handsome secretary Kevin Beckman) looked downright terrifying. Grossing $229 million worldwide on a $144 million budget doesn’t seem too disastrous on paper, but Sony spent a fortune promoting the movie. “The studio has said break-even would be $300 million,” said The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “Now they are preparing for steep losses (think $70 million-plus).” However, in the years following its release, important context emerged surrounding that global haul.
The next two installments in the “Ghostbusters” franchise made just a little over $200 million worldwide, respectively, despite the presence of the original “Ghostbusters” cast members. This means that 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and the underwhelming 2024 sequel “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” each made less than the 2016 reboot. Considering those financial outcomes, it’s clear that modern “Ghostbusters” movies have a firm ceiling in terms of box office haul. There is a fanbase for these movies, it’s just not especially massive in franchise terms.
Execs apparently weren’t aware of this when they were putting 2016’s “Ghostbusters” together. Allocating such a big budget to the reboot meant that its chances of succeeding financially were slim to none. Competition from other big films such as “Finding Dory” and “Star Trek Beyond” certainly didn’t help, either. A hysterical Chris Hemsworth playing against type wasn’t enough to save “Ghostbusters” from the box office hurdles it faced.