Ghostbusters trailer *Brand New* (2016)

[Silver Nemesis]

Last week the film's defenders (both of them) were boasting about the review embargo being lifted on July 4th, citing the underlying note of confidence as proof the film must be good. Then it was clarified the embargo was in place until July 10th. Now I'm hearing rumours it's been extended until the day of release.

Their confidence in early reviews was the one thing Sony's marketing division had going for them, and now it looks like they won't even have that. The reviews will likely be terrible either way. But if they at least have the balls to lift the embargo this weekend, then I'll give them some small modicum of credit for doing so. If however they keep the embargo in place for another full week, then that'll be the final nail of indignity in this film's miserable coffin.

I honestly can't recall another movie in my lifetime receiving this much pre-release hate. Not even Fantastic Four. People aren't just apathetic towards it – they're actively hyping it to fail. It's anti-hype, if such a thing exists. I've seen so many people across the internet who are eagerly anticipating its release. Not because they want to see it, but because they want to see it bomb.

Meanwhile there are rumours Target stores are pulling all their Ghostbusters merchandise due to poor sales. The movie comes out next week, and they're already displaying the toys under clearance.

I must be the only person who liked Ghostbusters 2 lol.

I like Ghostbusters 2 a lot. It's true that it recycles a lot from the first film, particularly in terms of structure and pacing. But it's still a pretty good movie in its own right. The court room sequence is one of the funniest in either film, there are some wonderfully spooky apparitions (Vigo, the Scoleri Brothers, the ghost train, the passengers alighting from the Titanic, etc) and overall it's a lot scarier than the first film. I'd rate the original Ghostbusters a solid 9.5/10. The sequel is at least a 7/10. The new movie looks like a 0/10.

[thecolorsblend]

Heh, I'm loving it! Maybe in the future movie studios will think twice before demonizing 49% of the public... and probably 60% of this movie's core audience.

The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter how much money the movie makes anymore. At this point, the entire narrative revolves around how alienated people are from this movie. Heads could roll no matter what because the perception will be it could've done better had it not been for all the pre-release hatred. Even if the movie turns a profit, Sony will look for lost revenue where there may not have been any. All because they invented a non-existent narrative.

You live by spin, you die by spin.

[The Joker]

The cop out for the apologists of the film will likely be that the film was ambitious; it dared to be different. Different isn't always better though, there's a reason the status quo was the status quo.

Yup. If anything, this will probably go the way of so many lackluster remakes that have spewed out of Hollywood in the past 10-15 years, where in due time, it's essentially downgraded to being just 'there' while the original continues to be  exploited, and thus, remaining in the public consciousness.

I guess some of it depends on one's age bracket, but whenever someone brings up, say, Total Recall, you're likely to be met with a quote from the Arnold film. Not the remake/reboot or whatever you want to call it. Mention Footloose, and probably the 1980's Kevin Bacon film is going to be referred to. Same with Robocop, Karate Kid, Arthur, The Omen, Conan the Barbarian, Stepford Wives, ect. It's not to say that remakes in of themselves are complete garbage, cause 1. That's ridiculous, and 2. There are remakes which are actually superior to the original film, however there are quite a few (remakes) that just flat out did not manage to make a impact that was anything like that of the original's, and thus, as a consequence, become less and less relevant as the years go on.

With Feig's ... "film" I would be surprised if it's influence, or lack there of, is any different than the examples provided above.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

[johnnygobbs]

Yup. If anything, this will probably go the way of so many lackluster remakes that have spewed out of Hollywood in the past 10-15 years, where in due time, it's essentially downgraded to being just 'there' while the original continues to be  exploited, and thus, remaining in the public consciousness.

I guess some of it depends on one's age bracket, but whenever someone brings up, say, Total Recall, you're likely to be met with a quote from the Arnold film. Not the remake/reboot or whatever you want to call it. Mention Footloose, and probably the 1980's Kevin Bacon film is going to be referred to. Same with Robocop, Karate Kid, Arthur, The Omen, Conan the Barbarian, Stepford Wives, ect. It's not to say that remakes in of themselves are complete garbage, cause 1. That's ridiculous, and 2. There are remakes which are actually superior to the original film, however there are quite a few (remakes) that just flat out did not manage to make a impact that was anything like that of the original's, and thus, as a consequence, become less and less relevant as the years go on.

With Feig's ... "film" I would be surprised if it's influence, or lack there of, is any different than the examples provided above.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

What is everyone's favourite remake?  One of mine is 1988's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Steve Martin and Michael Caine, which I think improves on the Marlon Brando and David Niven film, Bedtime Story, on which it is based.  Some of the scenes are identical to the original but work so much better because of the even superior chemistry between the two leads.

[JokerMeThis]

My favorite remake (and also my favorite movie) is the 1959 version of Ben-Hur. The silent movie is great too but since I doubt many people today watch silent movies I wouldn't be surprised if many people don't realize it's a remake. And there's a new remake coming out soon.

[thecolorsblend]

What is everyone's favourite remake?

Ocean's 11 is probably my favorite. It was so well done and so its own beast that a lot of people don't even know it's a remake of the Rat Pack's Ocean's Eleven.

Father of the Bride was pretty done well. Not my genre but well done on its own merits. It's tempting to credit Steven Martin and Martin Short with a big proportion of its success.

Dawn of the Dead comes to mind... but it's done in a way that if you want it to be not a remake but instead a parallel story of the original it can be. Or it can be a remake.

True Lies is technically a remake. I never saw the original but I can't imagine it being better than Cameron's version.

Probably the worst remake I've seen in the last ten years is Rob Zombie's Halloween. First, it doesn't need to be remade. But second, if it did, it deserved to be remade by someone who understood the original. Zombie proved he didn't GET Michael Myers. He's not human. He's literally the boogie man. He doesn't speak because he has fundamentally no humanity in him.

[JokerMeThis]

I never saw the remake of Halloween and it sounds like that's a good thing. The original version is one of my favorite scary movies ever. It's a pretty intelligent and thought-provoking film. I even like some of the sequels. Mainly 4 and 5 because Danielle Harris was a brilliant child actress. I like Part 3 too but that's not about Michael Myers.

[The Joker]

Scarface, True Grit, The Fly, Cape Fear, and Little Shop of Horrors comes to mind.

I agree with Dawn of the Dead as well. I know George Romero doesn't advocate the whole zombies being able to run deal, but I thought Snyder did a effective job in essentially re-telling that story in a modern setting.

John Carpenter's The Thing is another, though admittedly, it's a much more loose remake (if it can be called that) if anything.

[The Dark Knight]

I didn't mind the Robocop reboot with Keaton, even though I've only seen it once.

Ghostbusters: PC edition feels like Blues Brothers 2000. A poor film which didn't really set anyone's world on fire. Everyone loves the original, but the sequel limped into the cinemas and is best ignored. However this Ghostbusters movie actually seems like it'll be worse.

[thecolorsblend]

Online sources say "Ghostbusters" is tracking for an opening weekend between $40 and $50 million in the US.

Time will tell, and very soon. But even if that figure bears out, that means "Ghostbusters" will top out, what, at $120 million in the US? Some percentage of those numbers will come from the morbidly curious... and that's business which won't last very long.

I might be wrong but I don't think this will be very pretty.