The Ghostbusters (1984) | Remember an absolute cinema entertainment icon

Ghostbusters – But Além premiered today in theaters across Brazil and around the world. The film is a direct continuation of the beloved adventures of the 1980s and officially counts as the late third part set to premiere after 1989, but which for three decades never left the diary. The entire original cast (well, those who are still alive) return for a much anticipated (and delayed) handover. The focus of the new movie is not the veterans we’ve grown to love over those 37 years (now all in the late ’70s), but rather the younger generation, hitchhiking in the style of film that was so popular in the 80s: adventures starring children and tweens. Stranger Things, the hugely popular Netflix show, bathes in this fountain to achieve success.

To get in the mood for the long-awaited new adventure that not only saves the franchise in all its glory, but also the spirit of the ’80s, we decided to revisit the absolute classic that started it all and go back to 1984. So grab your proton backpack, assemble the gang, and get ready to go ghost hunting again on an incredibly nostalgic journey. Find out below.

It is very interesting to think about how some timeless works have influenced others which have become just as iconic. And to think that its existence is entirely linked to this previous one. Take the case of Indiana Jones, for example, whose existence relates directly to the fact that director Steven Spielberg wants to make a 007 spy adventure in the cinema. George Lucas, his colleague, then created something “in the same mold” for Spielberg to put that wish aside. With Ghostbusters, one of the most beloved and memorable movies of the ’80s, the same thing happens. It was filmmaker Ivan Reitman’s desire to adapt a comedy, fantasy and science fiction story to film that led him to this great production. It turns out that Reitman was, at the time, writing his own version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 1982, with three screenplays written by creator Douglas Adams. Interestingly, Reitman was already targeting Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd for the lead roles. This project fell apart and Reitman embarked on The Ghostbusters.

The idea, of course, came from the mind of actor Dan Aykroyd, a true fan of ghosts, hauntings and the supernatural. Aykroyd’s hallucinatory original story, however, was almost overwhelming for the screen. See: initially the plot would take place in the future, where the Ghostbusters would be a fully functioning government institution, like the police or the fire department. These professionals would be spread out in their bases across the country and even off the planet, with intergalactic and time-consuming adventures (like Back to the Future). This “hallucinogenic journey” was quickly refined by Columbia Pictures (Sony), the studio responsible for purchasing the script, which called on Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis to center the story on the ground and create something smaller. ladder. According to them, if they had not changed, production would have cost around $ 300 million, even in 1984.

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Another change was the option of an origin story, something that director Reitman brought to the table. In Aykroyd’s text, the first scene already showed Ghostbusters’ car leaving the building to fight the hauntings, with the heroes already established. Reitman believed that a greater connection with the audience would be created if he was shown on screen how it all started for these guys. The title was another hurdle for production. Besides doubting similar titles, such as “Ghost Smashers” (Aykroyd’s option), “Ghost Stoppers” and “Ghost Blasters”, when they finally opted for “GhostBusters”, the filmmakers learned from the worst of things. ways the name has never been registered. earlier and that’s when a real legal battle began to secure the brand.

The record for this title belonged to a 1975 comedy series that attempted to hitchhike on such gruesome hits as The Addams Family and The Monsters, but which only lasted a 15-episode season. Produced by Lou Scheimer, the one who later created the animation studio Filmation (responsible for various successes of the 1980s, such as He-Man), the show was transformed into an animated series of the same name in 1986 (known in Brazil as Os Fantasmas). This is why many kids in the 1980s were confused when they noticed two Ghostbusters cartoons at the time. The animation based on the film Ghostbusters was to be dubbed “The Real Ghostbusters” by the producers of the series. The two made their debut in 1986.

This is another curious point about the result of the original 1984 film. The production was aimed at an adult audience, and the actors and filmmakers were very surprised to find that the children had fully embraced the concept – directing the film as “Scientists fighting supernatural enemies with cool futuristic weapons”. It was this new audience discovered after the release of the original that led to the cartoon two years later, and that caused the sequel Ghostbusters 2 (1989) to eliminate adult elements, like cutting characters’ cigarettes, whatever. something very visible in the original. In particular, the factor that draws the most attention in the film to whoever is talking to you is the entrepreneurial vein it addresses, when three guys lose their jobs and decide to invest all of their money in creating their own. own business – which works very well. , becoming a sensation of night and day.

Another film that had a strong influence on the creation of The Ghostbusters was the Universal Pictures hit The Stick Face Brothers (1980). I explain. With the success of such a film, protagonists Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi (who had previously worked together in Spielberg’s 1941 comedy War Freaky) became friends and continued to star in Strangers Neighbors in 1981 when Aykroyd took over. Thinking of the Ghostbusters storyline, he had no qualms about creating the stick-faced character of Peter Venkman for his friend. While writing the script, however, the worst happened and Belushi would die of a drug overdose in 1982 – before the film stepped out of the role. However, we can consider that Belushi is still in the film, since the greedy and mad actor was the inspiration for one of the biggest symbols of the franchise, the greenish ghost “Slimer” (Frozen in Brazil). Behind the scenes, Aykroyd referred to the creature only as “the ghost of John Belushi” (especially in his character from The Scoundrels Club, 1978).

So began a search for the lead role of Venkman, a loophole left open after Belushi’s death. Several actors were considered and offered the role. Tom Hanks and Robin Williams were considered, and Steve Guttenberg turned down the role to star in Police Loucademia, released the same year (with the actor’s return for three of the sequels). Chevy Chase (Frustrated Holiday), arguing that the script filmed was not the original, which he declined because it was much darker and spookier; and Michael Keaton (who would later play the role of Beetlejuice and Batman). So the newspaper fell into Bill Murray’s lap. However, the comedian only agreed with a binding agreement that Columbia would have to produce the remake of The Razor’s Edge for him to play the lead role (a personal project of the actor). Ironically, released the same year, we might ask “who is The Razor’s Edge in the bread lineup” next to Ghostbusters, as one would become an immortal hit and another would be swept unceremoniously under the rug.

With the protagonist, director, and co-star (Aykroyd was the only actor ever on board) chosen, the other actors began to take shape. For the role of cerebral Egon Spengler, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, John Lithgow and Christopher Walken were considered, but the role would end up in the hands of one of the film’s writers, also director Harold Ramis. To complete the main quartet, the team’s only black Ghostbusters, Winston Zedmore, had been raised with sensation Eddie Murphy in mind – with whom Aykroyd had worked on the previous year’s hit comedy, Changing the Balls. (1983). Murphy ended up withdrawing from the project to star alone in Um Tira da Pesada, released the same year and which turned him into a star. When the star left, Ernie Hudson was hired, however, the role was drastically reduced in the film, with the character joining the team after 40 minutes of screening. Since then, Hudson has always had a love-hate relationship with the character, knowing what he should have been, and sometimes defines himself in the role as “a last minute replacement for Eddie Muprhy.”

To complete the main cast, Julia Roberts, then young and unknown, auditioned for Dana, a character who eventually ended up in the hands of Sigourney Weaver; and the troublesome neighbor Louis Tully would be shaped like the good boy John Candy – who wanted to raise him with a German accent. As is well known, the character would be immortalized in the forms of little Rick Moranis.

Os Ghostbusters was released on June 8, 1984 in the United States and arrived in Brazil on December 20 of the same year. This weekend, the film would face competition from the then-ranked Kings of Star Trek 3 – In Search of Spock and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and another major debut with Gremlins. But there was none for anyone that week. The Ghostbusters were the absolute box office leader and would remain in number one throughout the months of June and July, leaving no chance for other beloved icons of the time such as Karate Kid, Conan – The Destroyer, The Last Star Warrior and The Endless History.

The Ghostbusters would become the highest grossing comedy in cinema until the opening of Home Alone in 1990, the 32nd highest grossing film of all time (adjusting the inflation numbers) and the highest grossing film. of Columbia Pictures of All Time – again readjusting period values.

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