On June 8th, 1984, the original “Ghostbusters” premiered in U.S. theaters! Ghostbusters was written by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and starred Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as the three “Ghostbusters”. It was the first comedy film to employ expensive special effects, and Columbia Pictures had little faith in its box office potential due to its high $25-30 million budget. “Ghostbusters” received critical acclaim and became a cultural phenomenon throughout the 1980s. It earned $282.2 million during its initial theatrical release, making it the second highest grossing film of 1984 in the U.S. and Canada, and the then-highest-grossing comedy ever! It was the number-one film in theaters for seven consecutive weeks! The success of “Ghostbusters” led to more movies including “Ghostbusters II” (1989), “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (2021), and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” (2024), and an animated series in 1986!
