Ghostbusters (also marketed as Ghostbusters: Answer the Call) is a 2016 American supernatural comedy film directed by Paul Feig, produced by Ivan Reitman and Amy Pascal, and co-written by Feig and Katie Dippold. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Neil Casey, Andy García, Cecily Strong, Charles Dance, Michael K. Williams, Matt Walsh, and Chris Hemsworth, it is a reboot of the 1984 film of the same name and the third film in the Ghostbusters franchise. The story focuses on four eccentric women who start a ghost-catching business in New York City after a paranormal encounter.
A third Ghostbusters film had been in various stages of development following the release of Ghostbusters II in 1989. Because of original cast member Bill Murray's refusal to commit to the project, and the death of fellow cast member Harold Ramis in 2014, Sony decided to reboot the series instead. Many of the original film's cast members and their family members make cameo appearances in new roles, and Ramis is commemorated in the film's closing credits. The announcement of the female-led cast in 2015 drew a polarized response from the public and an internet backlash, leading to the film's IMDb page and associated YouTube videos receiving low ratings before the film's release.
Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, Ghostbusters premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on July 9, 2016, and was released in the United States on July 15. The film grossed $229.1 million worldwide against its $144 million budget, making it a box office bomb with losses of over $70 million following theaters taking their revenue cut. Columbia abandoned plans for a sequel, opting instead to continue the original film canon with Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).
Plot
Particle physicists and estranged friends Abby Yates and Erin Gilbert co-authored Ghosts from Our Past, a book detailing their paranormal investigations since high school. Erin later disowned the work, while Abby continues her research at the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute of Science in New York City, with engineering physicist Jillian Holtzmann as her partner. Now a professor at Columbia University and in line for tenure, Erin, discovering that Abby republished their book, convinces her to cease its publication if she helps Abby and Jillian investigate an alleged haunted house, the Aldridge Mansion. They encounter the malevolent ghost of the late Gertrude Aldridge before she escapes, restoring Erin's belief in the supernatural and friendship with Abby. Erin loses her bid for tenure at Columbia after their vlog becomes viral. Erin offers to join Abby and Jillian, but Thomas Shanks, the dean of the Higgins Institute, fires them too. After stealing equipment, they establish temporary headquarters above Zhu's Authentic Hong Kong Food. They verbosely name themselves "Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination", build trappings and hire jock Kevin Beckman as a receptionist.
MTA staffer Patty Tolan encounters a ghost in a subway terminal built under a haunted prison in Auburn and contacts the team. They find the ghost and test Jillian's prototype for the proton packs on the entity but fail to capture it. They advertise their services with a "no ghosts allowed" logo that Jillian used based on a graffiti artist's defacement, and the name pundits have labeled them—"Ghostbusters". Patty joins the team, providing expertise of New York City, personal protective equipment, and a repurposed hearse from her mortician uncle Bill Jenkins, named "Ecto-1".
Mad scientist and occultist Rowan North has triggered the supernatural events by attracting ghosts over Manhattan with self-developed ionizers that correspond to the Ghostbusters' technology, allowing him to experiment and create a dimensional vortex powered by turned PSI energy. When Rowan plants another device at a concert, the Ghostbusters are called and capture a gargoyle-like spirit there, becoming city sensations but antagonizing him. When debunker Dr. Martin Heiss challenges the quartet, Erin releases the ghost as proof; it throws him out of a window and escapes.