Box Office Report: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire rakes in $16 million on opening day

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire debuted with $16 million in ticket sales across North America, including preview screenings in 4,345 theaters. This nearly matches the $16.6 million earned by its predecessor, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," on its opening day in November 2021.

Sony's sci-fi comedy sequel is expected to dominate the domestic box office, although its journey isn't complete yet, given its $100 million production budget. This marks an increase from Afterlife, which had a production cost of $75 million before factoring in marketing and distribution expenses.

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Box Office Success and Holiday Prospects

The revival saw a nearly tripled domestic opening weekend from its $44 million debut, performing strongly throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and concluding with $129 million domestically and $204 million worldwide. Likewise, Frozen Empire could see an uplift in its box office performance with Easter approaching at the end of the month.

Reviews for Frozen Empire have been somewhat lukewarm compared to its predecessor, Afterlife. Early audiences are also showing a bit of a cooler response to the franchise, with audience survey firm CinemaScore assigning a B+ grade, whereas Afterlife scored an A-. Frozen Empire will face competition next week with the release of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.

Return of Iconic Characters

Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and McKenna Grace reprise their roles for Frozen Empire, as the group ventures into a mysteriously frozen New York City, where the profession of ghostbusting was famously born. Original '80s stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton also return to their Ghostbusters roles. The film is directed by Gil Kenan.

Dune: Part Two aims to maintain its grip on second place. The sequel from Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. brought in $4.45 million on Friday, experiencing a drop from the $8 million it earned the previous week. Denis Villeneuve's film is poised for another robust performance in its fourth weekend, with expectations to surpass a domestic gross of $230 million.

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