The all-female Ghostbusters might be afraid of no ghosts, but it turns out the mediocre response to the movie has reportedly put paid to Sony’s hopes of Paul Feig’s controversial reboot becoming a franchise.
Unlike the original Ghostbusters, which led to Ghostbusters 2 five years later in 1989, the new film has under-performed commercially since its release last month — not well enough according to the Hollywood Reporter to inspire a sequel.
Ghostbusters has earned nearly $200 million globally but reports suggest it needs to gross $300 million to break even.
Sony executives had previously been bullish about a sequel with Rory Bruer, the company’s President of Worldwide Distribution, telling The Wrap: “I expect Ghostbusters to become an important brand and franchise…there’s no doubt in my mind it will happen.”
Sony is not commenting, but now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting the “Ghostbusters universe” will now consist of an animated movie and a TV spin-off. The exploits of Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig have been abandoned.