Except for Sony attempting to take advantage of the mental property on its cabinets, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” can be the newest Hollywood effort to nail the area of interest style of family-friendly horror. Sony/Columbia pulled this off with 2015’s “Goosebumps” and its follow-up “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween,” each of which had been modest mid-budget field workplace successes. Disney additionally took a swing (and missed) final yr with “Haunted Mansion.”
“Ghostbusters” maybe wasn’t the most effective supply materials for family-friendly scares within the first place, what with the unique film’s infamous ghost blowjob scene and a theme tune that declares, “Bustin’ makes me really feel good.” The trailers for “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” additionally appeared to form of overlook about youngsters as a target market, as a substitute milking nostalgia for a film that got here out a long time earlier than the present era of children had been born. And its PG-13 ranking implies that, within the eyes of the MPA no less than, “Frozen Empire” isn’t any extra family-friendly than “M3GAN” or “5 Nights at Freddy’s” — two field workplace megahits that had been marketed as easy horror movies. Perhaps that is what the children actually need.
Subsequent week, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” will face one other problem because it contends with the arrival of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” Sure, it is an empire-off. Place your bets.