Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Heats Up Box Office with $45.2M Debut Weekend

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” Sony Pictures’ newest spirit-chasing spectacle, conjured up an impressive $45.2 million in box office receipts across its opening weekend. This cool fiscal beginning puts Sony squarely back in the cinematic limelight, claiming their first top-grossing film since the summer of the previous year.

Debuting in a sprawling 4,345 theaters, “Frozen Empire” traced the same spectral trail as the previous year’s incarnate, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, which manifested $44 million on its initial launch. With “Afterlife” breathing new life into the beloved franchise, it introduced horror hounds to a line-up of next-generation Ghostbusters – the progeny of Harold Ramis’ indelible Egon Spengler, played by stellar rising stars like Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd’s character, seismologist Gary Grooberson.

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Despite their frosty reception among critics, the Ghostbusters franchise continues to haunt the hearts of audiences. CinemaScore, a pulse gauge of filmgoer sentiment, rated “Frozen Empire” a B+, just shy of the A- grade the previous “Afterlife” installment earned. A beacon of profitable light remains on the horizon for “Frozen Empire”, with spring break’s surreal audiences presenting a potentially lucrative phantasm.

Historically, the “Ghostbusters” franchise hasn’t quite mastered the art of international penetration. In a projection across 25 overseas markets, “Frozen Empire” managed to accumulate an additional $16.4 million.

In terms of other spectral expenses, the latest “Ghostbusters” drained about $100 million from the studio’s vault. With Jason Reitman passing the directorial torch to Gil Kenan for “Frozen Empire,” the franchise swung towards a more family-centric, PG-13 direction, featuring original parapsychological pioneers Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Bill Murray in supporting roles.

Turning our attention to other box office bruisers, the cryptically titled “Immaculate” marked its big-screen debut starring Sydney Sweeney, the celluloid nun at an isolated Italian abbey. Despite a respectable $5.4 million appearing at the box office collection plate, the horror picture hasn’t quite proven as successful as Sweeney’s previous venture “Anyone But You,” a rom-com darling.

Inevitably, the box office standings shuffled over the weekend, with “Dune: Part Two” securing the second spot, adding a solid $17.6 million to its rather stellar fourth weekend, and “Kung Fu Panda 4″ somersaulting into the third with an additional $16.8 million. Meanwhile, “Arthur the King” amassed $4.4 million, and “Late Night With the Devil,” and “Imaginary” shared seventh place at $2.8 million. “Love Lies Bleeding” bled out $1.6 million, “Cabrini” garnered $1.4 million, with “Bob Marley: One Love” ending the top ten with $1.1 million.

These are but estimated ticket sales across Friday to Sunday in US and Canadian marketplaces, with final domestic numbers set to be released on the morrow. Regardless, it’s clear that despite ethereal critics, audiences are still eager to cross streams with the Ghostbusters.