Gabbing Geek Box Office Report: Meh, Still Here.

Well, if this must be done, I will again give the top five from over the weekend, but first I have a short essay that you’ll have to wade through to get to the numbers.

Until I finally got around to seeing Kubo and the Two Strings and Hell or High Water, I was firmly of the opinion that Ghostbusters was the best movie of the summer.  Now, Ghostbusters is nowhere near the quality of either Kubo or Hell or High Water, but the fact is I found Ghostbusters to be just a fun time at the movies.  Was it as good as the original?  No.  Was it fun in its own right?  Yes, yes it was.  I’ve had more than a few people question me on that, so here goes for an answer.

The problem with a remake of any kind is it needs to justify its existence as something other than a remake.  I am, in general, wary of remakes.  Too many look like soulless cash-grabs.  Some folks will suggest the only movies that should be remade are ones that weren’t that good the first time around, like Ocean’s 11.  I’m not sure about that, but what I would say is that a remake has to, above all things, justify its existence.

Personally, I felt Ghostbusters did that, especially as that film moved away from the original in terms of plot and call-backs.  I really enjoyed the general bickering between Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon was a blast of fun, and Leslie Jones was great.  A movie with the four of them playing off each other should be fun, and it was.  Factor in Chris Hemsworth as a terminally dumb and lucky guy who has trouble doing his basic job of answering the phone, and you have a movie that says, “Yes, this is a Ghostbusters movie, but this is a Ghostbusters movie with its own sensibilities that distinguishes itself from the original.  Just enjoy this for what it is.”

Could a movie have been made with those actors that wasn’t Ghostbusters?  Sure.  Easily.  Would we have gotten Kate McKinnon in a quick, awesome action sequence?  Nope.

But then we have other recent remakes.  What did the Total Recall remake deliver that the original didn’t?  I haven’t seen the Robocop remake, but it occurred to me from the trailers that there was a promising story in there about modern drone warfare, since all good sci-fi is based on issues from today…but why did it have to a Robocop movie?  Many sequel and remake scripts don’t start off as sequel or remake scripts, so was Robocop just hit with a more recognizable brand by the studio to try and sell more tickets?

Point is, I think the new Ghostbusters stands well on its own, and that was good enough for me in a lackluster summer.

So, here’s your Box Office stuff:

1. Don’t Breathe, $26 million.
2. Suicide Squad, $12 million.
3. Kubo and the Two Strings, $7.9 million.
4. Sausage Party, $7.6 million,
5. Mechanic:  Resurrection, $7.5 million.