To the surprise of audiences, the fourth movie in theGhostbustersfranchise,Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is reigning as the lead champion of the weekend box office. The film even beat out Marvel Studios' new filmEternals.
Ghostbusters: Afterlifepicks up where the second film,Ghostbusters: II,left off. The synopsis for the film reads, “when a single mother and her two children move to a new town, they soon discover they have a connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their Grandfather left behind.” The movie is directed by Jason Reitman and stars Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, andoriginalGhostbustersstar Bill Murray. TheEternalsbrought both a new cast and a new plotline, which may have led the audience to be a bit less invested than if a beloved hero or Marvel trope had been thrown into the picture as well.
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In just three short days,Ghostbusters: Afterlifebrought in $44 million in comparison toEternals’respective 10.8 million, which landed the Marvel Studios film in second place. The shock of a Marvel film, especially one jam-packed with 10 brand new superheroes complete with the MCU’s most diverse cast to date, not landing automatically at the number one spot is somewhat jarring. Of course, this wasEternals' third weekend in theaters, and the film did take the number one spot for the previous two. Not to mention, the last film intheGhostbusterfranchise, 2016’sGhostbusters, tanked at the box office despite it featuring a full-female lead cast.
This is not to say or conclude that diversity doesn’t sell. In fact, many were expectingEternalsto take the cake just for the representationthat fans have been waiting for what feels like centuries to materialize now finally being delivered. TheEternals, similarly to 2016’sGhostbusters,was led with a brand new cast that put diversity at the forefront. However, other than that, the script and overall plot were quite a generic, classic superhero take. Similarly, 2016’sGhostbustersonly starred a female cast, but the entire story and overall plot of the first film basically remained intact.
Many critics believe that this is perhaps the reason whyEternalsdid end up coming in second place. Marvel wasn’t learning from the risk of fulltransformation as theGhostbustersfranchisehas over time.Ghostbusters: Afterlifedoesn’t just feature a brand new cast, but also is a continuation of the movie’s narrative rather than a re-do, re-make, or revival.
At the same time,Ghostbusters: Afterlifedoesn’t bring nearly the same amount of effort when it comes to the diversity and representation thatEternalspossessed. This doesn’t mean, however, that theEternalswas a complete flop, and all of the recycled conceptions for the film can be corrected in the future. Who knows, maybe the box office will be calling someone other than the trustedGhostbustersto the front next time.
