Ghostbusters sequel scares up box office lead with S$60m
LOS ANGELES: The box office ain't afraid of no ghosts.
Currently showing in cinemas here, Ghostbusters: Afterlife - the sequel to the 80s sci-fi comedy classic - collected US$44 million (S$60 million) in its opening weekend in North America, a better-than-expected result.
At the international box office, it earned US$16 million from 31 overseas markets, pushing its worldwide total to US$60 million.
This version stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard in a ghostly tale set not in 1980s Manhattan but decades later in small-town Oklahoma.
Original stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver all have cameos, and it is written and directed by Jason Reitman, whose father Ivan Reitman made the original.
The latest instalment in the decades-old franchise is looking like a win after the studio failed to revive the supernatural series years earlier.
It should be noted that Sony's 2016 all-female reboot of Ghostbusters starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig and directed by Paul Feig opened to US$46 million, US$2 million more than Afterlife.
However, that film cost US$144 million - compared with Afterlife's US$75 million budget - making the earlier version a box-office dud. - REUTERS
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