Ghostbusters has reportedly lost about $50m for Sony, but studio says it has plans to 'further exploit' the Ghostbusters universe
Sony and its financial partners are poised make a loss of around $50m thanks to Ghostbusters, which has reportedly brought in just $180m worldwide almost a month after its release.
Sony has reportedly lost $50m thanks to Ghostbusters / Sony
The all-female reboot of the 1984 classic is likely to end up losing around $75m in total, sources familiar with the matter told Variety. They said with Sony's financial hit falling closer to the $50m mark because of a co-financing arrangement with Village Roadshow, which it inked back in 2014 to migate the risk on major movies.
While Ghostbusters has yet to open in some markets like France, Japan and Mexico analysts believe the title will struggle to pull in more than $240m worldwide.
Sony's net production budget of $144m, combined with mammoth marketing costs means that its likely to make a significant loss - the studio has even said before that it would have to generate $300m just to break even according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Sony insiders, meanwhile, have projected the total loss on the film, for Sony and its financial partners, will be closer to $25 million.
Sony's marketing strategy for the movie was critised by the industry. The film's trailer is currently the tenth most-disliked video in the history of YouTube and looks to have flopped despite a host of expensive brand partnerships with companies like Progressive Insurance and Papa John’s.
While the prospect of a sequel looks increasingly unlikely, a Sony spokesperson told Variety that the they believed the the movie had "reignited a 30-year-old brand and put it into the modern zeitgeist."
The rep added, "As a result, we have many ideas to further exploit the Ghostbusters universe."