Ghostbusters Ivan Reitman

Aftermath

Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984 and 21 weeks on the charts altogether.[45][115] The song is estimated to have added $20 million to the film's box office.[116] Reitman directed the successful "Ghostbusters" music video that included several celebrity cameos.[1][45][46] Shortly after the film's release, Huey Lewis sued Parker Jr., for plagiarizing his 1983 song "I Want a New Drug".[1][46] The case was settled out of court in 1985.[10][46] Parker Jr. later sued Lewis for breaching a confidentiality agreement about the case.[46] In 1984, the filmmakers were also sued by Harvey Cartoons, the owner of Casper the Friendly Ghost for $50 million and the destruction of all copies of the film. Harvey alleged the Ghostbusters logo was based on their character Fatso. The case was decided in Columbia's favor.[117][118]

Murray left acting for four years following the release of Ghostbusters. He described the success as a phenomenon that would forever be his biggest accomplishment and, compounded by the failure of his personal project The Razor's Edge, he felt "radioactive". Murray avoided central roles in films until the 1988 Christmas comedy film Scrooged,[119][120] which used the tagline that Murray was "back among the ghosts".[66][121] In a 1989 interview, Reitman said he was upset at the "little respect" he felt Ghostbusters received and his work was not taken seriously, believing many dismissed it as just "another action-comedy".[120]

Hudson held mixed feelings about Ghostbusters. He regretted the marginalization of his character from the original script and felt Ghostbusters did not improve his career as he had hoped, or been promised. In a 2014 interview, he said: "I love the character and he's got some great lines, but I felt the guy was just kind of there ... I'm very thankful that fans appreciate the Winston character. But it's always been very frustrating—kind of a love/hate thing, I guess."[21] Atherton said fans would call him "dickless" on the streets into the 1990s, to his ire.[7][27]

Home media

Ghostbusters was released on VHS in October 1985. Paramount Pictures had scheduled the equally popular Beverly Hills Cop to release the day before Ghostbusters, forcing Columbia to release it a week earlier to avoid direct competition. Priced at $79.95, Ghostbusters was predicted to sell well but be outperformed by Beverly Hills Cop because of its lower $29.95 price.[n] The release was supported by a $1 million advertising campaign. The film was the tenth best-selling VHS during its launch week. Columbia earned approximately $20 million selling the rights to manufacture and distribute the VHS.[122][123][124] A record 410,000 VHS units were ordered (exceeded a few months later by Rambo: First Blood Part II's 425,000 unit order). By February 1986, it was estimated to have sold 400,000 copies and earned $32 million in revenue, making it the third best-selling VHS of 1985, after Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (425,000 units, $12.7 million) and Beverly Hills Cop (1.4 million units sold, $41.9 million).[125][126]

Ghostbusters was released in 1989 on LaserDisc, a format then experiencing a resurgence in popularity. The release offered a one-disc version, and a two-disc special edition version featuring deleted scenes, a split-screen demonstration of the film's effects, the screenplay, and other special features. In a 1999 interview for the DVD release, Reitman admitted he was not involved in the LaserDisc versions and had been embarrassed by the visual changes that "pumped up the light level so much you saw all the matte lines", highlighting flaws in the special effects.[127][128][129] Ghostbusters was also the first full-length film to be released on a USB flash drive when PNY Technologies did so in 2008.[130]

Blu-ray disc editions were released for the film's 25th, 30th, and 35th anniversaries in 2009, 2014 and 2019. They featured remastered 4K resolution video quality, deleted scenes, alternate takes, fan interviews, and commentaries by crew members and actors including Aykroyd, Ramis, Reitman, and Medjuck. The 35th-anniversary version came in a limited edition steel book cover and contained unseen footage including the deleted "Fort Detmerring" scene.[131][132][133] The film was released as part of the 8-disc Ghostbusters: Ultimate Collection Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray boxset in February 2022, also containing its sequels Ghostbusters II (1989) and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and the 2016 reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. Presented in a ghost trap-shaped box, the release features a 114-minute preview cut of Ghostbusters including deleted scenes, an edited-for-TV version, recorded auditions for Dana, and a 90-minute documentary, "Ghostbusters: Behind Closed Doors" about the film's production.[26][134] Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" received special edition vinyl record releases, one as a glow in the dark record—the other a white record presented in a marshmallow-scented jacket.[135][136] A remaster of Bernstein's score was also released in June 2019, on compact disc, digital, and vinyl formats. It includes four unreleased tracks, and commentary by Bernstein's son Peter.[137]

Merchandise

Developing merchandise for a film was still a relatively new practice at the time of Ghostbusters' release, and it was only following the success of Star Wars merchandise that other studios attempted to duplicate the idea.[138] The unexpected success of Ghostbusters meant Columbia did not have a comprehensive merchandising plan in place to fully capitalize on the film at the peak of its popularity.[139] They were able to generate additional revenue, however, by applying the popular "no ghosts" logo to a variety of products.[140] Much of the merchandising success came from licensing the rights to other companies based on the success of the 1986 animated spin-off The Real Ghostbusters.[139] Merchandise based directly on the film did not initially sell well until The Real Ghostbusters, which on its own helped generate up to $200 million in revenue in 1988, the same year the Ghostbusters proton pack was the most popular toy in the United Kingdom.[141][138] A successful Ghostbusters video game was released alongside the film.[142] The film also received two novelizations, Ghostbusters by Larry Milne (released with the film), and Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular by Richard Mueller (released in 1985).[5] "Making Ghostbusters", an annotated script by Ramis, was released in 1985.[8]

In the years since its release, Ghostbusters merchandise has included: soundtrack albums, action figures, books, Halloween costumes, various Lego and Playmobil sets including the Ectomobile and Firehouse,[143][144] board games,[145][146] slot machines,[147] pinball machines,[148] bobbleheads, statues, prop replicas, neon signs, ice cube trays, Minimates, coin banks,[139] Funko Pop figures,[149] footwear,[150] lunch boxes, and breakfast cereals.[84] A Slimer-inspired limited-edition citrus-flavored Hi-C Ecto Cooler drink first released in 1987, was one of the more popular items, and did not cease production until 2001.[143] The Slimer character became iconic and popular, appearing in video games, toys, cartoons, sequels, toothpaste, and juice boxes.[49] There have also been crossover products including comic books and toys that combine the Ghostbusters with existing properties like Men in Black,[151] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,[152][143] Transformers,[153] and World Wrestling Entertainment.[154]