1984’s Ghostbusters returned to the top of the box office over the weekend

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

When it was released in 1984, the comedy classic GHOSTBUSTERS was the #1 movie at the box office for seven weeks straight, then returned to #1 three more times before it left theatres. With the pandemic keeping new films out of theatres, Sony decided to give GHOSTBUSTERS a re-release on July 1st – and over the Independence Day weekend, the film became #1 at the box office again, for the first time since the weekend of September 14 – 16, 1984.

Directed by Ivan Reitman from a screenplay written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, the film has the following synopsis: 

After a team of scientists lose their cushy positions at a university in New York City, they decide to become "ghostbusters" to wage a high-tech battle with the supernatural for money. They stumble upon a gateway to another dimension, a doorway that will release evil upon the city. The Ghostbusters must now save New York from complete destruction.

Aykroyd and Ramis star alongside Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and William Atherton.

If it weren't for the pandemic, the sequel GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (directed by Ivan Reitman's son Jason) would have been reaching theatres this weekend, as it had been scheduled for a July 10th release. Now we have to wait until March 5, 2021 to see that one, while the original film gets some more time at the top of the box office thirty-six years after its original release.

GHOSTBUSTERS has earned $656,000 during this re-release, with $550,000 coming in over the holiday weekend. The film was shown at 622 locations. Drive-ins accounted for 90% of the weekend's box office business.