The third “Ghostbusters” movie was based on a premise that seemed like a good idea at the time. The film would reboot the original premise with an all female cast. The idea was that more women would be attracted to the movie, and the rest would be people who were fans of the original two films. But then the first trailer came out to near universal disdain, which was greeted by social justice warriors setting social media on fire with accusations of sexism and worse. The result, as the Hollywood Reporter suggests, is that the movie is going to take a $70 million loss.
Sony disputes that figure, pointing to merchandising and a theme park ride. But the sequel has been shelved indefinitely. However, an animated TV series is now being contemplated.
What lessons should we derive from the all-female “Ghostbusters” being a flop?
First, no substitute exists for having a fun, original story populated by interesting characters well written and well directed. Failing that, the movie that is a sequel or a reboot, which Hollywood seems to be addicted to these days, should capture the spirit of the original, make people remember what made the first movie going experience fun and want to do it again. The third “Ghostbusters” seems to have failed on both counts, though as an aside, it looks like rentals of the first movie have soared.
Second, don’t insult your audience. The moment that people who thought they might not like the film were accused of all sorts of thought crimes, the marketing for the project was lost. It did not help matters that the twitter storm brought out the worst of the worst, as noting the harassment of actress Leslie Jones, though she is not the only actress to get Twitter hate.
No one wants to see a movie that is associated with that kind of ugliness.
It’s not that the primary demographic of fantasy and science fiction, adolescent and young adult males, are turned off by women who kick butt. The success of such shows as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” proves that. Of course, it helps if you have Joss Whedon, a proven storyteller, doing the project.
To sum up, make sure your project is worth watching and don’t allow your audience to be insulted. You’ll be more likely to have a hit thus.
