Ghostbusters grossed $128.3 million in North America and $100.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $229.1 million.[6] With a net production budget of $144 million[78] Due to the large amount spent on marketing, the studio stated that the film would need to gross at least $300 million to break even.[79] Before the release, director Paul Feig stated "A movie like this has to at least get to like $500 million worldwide, and that’s probably low."[80]
The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film's financial losses would be over $70 million.[79][81][82] A representative of Sony found this loss estimate to be "way off," saying: "With multiple revenue streams [...] the bottom line, even before co-financing, is not even remotely close to that number."[79][81] According to Variety, sources familiar with the film's financing estimate the total loss to be about $75 million, of which, due to co-financing with Village Roadshow, Sony would lose about $50 million.[83] Sony insiders have projected, along with co-financing, a total loss of about $25 million.[83] Bloomberg News estimated the film lost $58.6 million.[84] By August 2016, sources such as Forbes and The Wall Street Journal had begun calling Ghostbusters a box office bomb.[12][85][86][87] The film's performance contributed to Sony taking a $1 billion writedown in January 2017.[88]
In the United States and Canada, the film opened Friday, July 15, across 3,963 theaters, earning $17.2 million on its first day,[89] including $3.4 million it made from Thursday preview screenings.[90] The film earned $46 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind The Secret Life of Pets ($50.8 million).[78] It procured the biggest opening weekend ever for director Feig and star Melissa McCarthy and was the biggest live-action comedy debut since Pitch Perfect 2 in May 2015.[91] In its second weekend the film dropped 54% to $21 million (compared to the first film increasing in its sophomore week by 11%), dropping to 5th at the box office.[92]
Outside North America, Ghostbusters earned $19.1 million in its opening weekend from a handful of markets on 3,900 screens. IMAX contributed $1 million from 105 IMAX screens.[93] It had number one openings in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland ($6.1 million), number one in Australia ($3.7 million), and number three in Brazil ($2.2 million).[78] It debuted at number one on the DVD and Blu-ray charts after its release on home media in North America.[94]
In a June 2017 television appearance, Aykroyd blamed the film's underperformance on Feig. According to Aykroyd, Feig refused to shoot additional scenes requested by Aykroyd and Sony until test screenings demonstrated they were necessary, costing an additional $30–40 million in reshoots (although Sony claimed reshoots only cost $3–4 million).[95] He wrote a few days later: "Paul Feig made a good movie and had a superb cast and plenty of money to do it. We just wish he had been more inclusive to the originators. It cost everyone as it is unlikely Kristen, Leslie, Melissa and Kate will ever reprise their roles as Ghostbusters which is sad."[96]
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