Ghostbusters II
| Ghostbusters II | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ivan Reitman |
| Written by | |
| Based on | Characters by
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| Produced by | Ivan Reitman |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Michael Chapman |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Randy Edelman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30–40 million |
| Box office | $215.4 million |
Ghostbusters II is a 1989 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Ghostbusters and the second film in the Ghostbusters franchise. Set five years after the events of the first film, the Ghostbusters have been sued and put out of business after the destruction caused during their battle with the deity Gozer the Gozerian. When a new paranormal threat emerges, the Ghostbusters reunite to combat it and save the world.
After the success of Ghostbusters, Columbia Pictures wanted a sequel but struggled to overcome objections from the cast and crew. As with the first film, Aykroyd and Ramis collaborated on the script, which went through many variations. The pair wanted to convey a message about the consequences of negative human emotions in large cities. They settled on the idea of negative feelings creating a mass of supernatural slime beneath New York City that empowers malevolent spirits. With a budget of $30–40 million, filming took place between November 1988 and March 1989 in New York City and Los Angeles. Production was rushed compared to the original film's 13-month shooting schedule; large sections of the film were scrapped after poorly received test screenings. New scenes were written and filmed during re-shoots between March and April 1989, only two months before its release.
Ghostbusters II was released on June 16, 1989, to generally negative reviews. Critics responded unfavorably to what they perceived as largely a copy of the original and a softening of its cynical, dark humor to be more family-friendly, although the performances of Peter MacNicol and Rick Moranis were repeatedly singled out for praise. As the sequel to the then-highest-grossing comedy film of all time, Ghostbusters II was expected to dominate the box office. Instead, the film earned $215.4 million during its theatrical run compared with the original's $282.2 million, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of the year. Columbia Pictures deemed it a financial and critical failure, effectively dissuading Murray from participating in a third Ghostbusters film. Its soundtrack single, "On Our Own" by Bobby Brown, was a success, spending 20 weeks on the United States music charts.
The film failed to replicate the cultural impact and following of Ghostbusters. Although some critics retrospectively praised it, Ghostbusters II is generally seen as a poor follow-up to Ghostbusters and responsible for stalling the franchise for decades. The film spawned a series of merchandise including video games, board games, comic books, music, toys, and haunted houses. Despite the relative failure of Ghostbusters II, a second sequel was pursued through to the early 2010s. Following the mixed reviews and financial underperformance of the 2016 series reboot, the series returned to the original films with Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024).
Plot[edit]
Five years after saving New York City from destruction by the shapeshifting god Gozer,[a] the Ghostbusters have been sued for the property damage incurred and barred from investigating the supernatural, forcing them out of business. Ray Stantz now owns an occult bookstore and works a side job alongside Winston Zeddemore as unpopular children's entertainers, Egon Spengler works in a laboratory experimenting with human emotions, and Peter Venkman hosts a television talk show about psychics.
Dana Barrett, Peter's ex-girlfriend, has an infant son named Oscar with her ex-husband and works at an art museum restoring artwork. She contacts the Ghostbusters after Oscar's baby stroller rolls, seemingly independently, into a busy intersection. At the museum, a painting of Vigo the Carpathian, a 16th-century European tyrant and powerful magician, comes to life and enslaves Dana's boss, Janosz Poha. Vigo orders Janosz to bring him a child to possess, allowing him to escape the confines of his painting and live again to conquer the world. Because of his infatuation with Dana, Janosz chooses Oscar.
Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters excavate the intersection where Oscar's stroller stopped and discover a river of slime running through the abandoned Beach Pneumatic Transit system. Ray obtains a sample but is attacked by the slime and accidentally breaks a pipe that falls onto a power line, causing a citywide blackout. The Ghostbusters are arrested and taken to court for the damage and for investigating the supernatural. Upon presentation as evidence, the slime sample responds physically to the judge's tirade against the Ghostbusters and then explodes, manifesting the ghosts of the Scoleri brothers, whom he had sentenced to death. The Ghostbusters capture the ghosts in exchange for a dismissal of the charges and the right to resume their business.
One night, the slime invades Dana's apartment, attacking her and Oscar. She seeks refuge with Peter, and they rekindle their relationship. The Ghostbusters discover the slime reacts to emotions and suspect it has amassed from the negative emotions of New Yorkers. Determining Vigo and the slime are connected, Egon, Ray, and Winston investigate the river of slime, but they are pulled in. They emerge at the museum and begin fighting each other until Egon realizes the slime's negative energy is influencing them. The Ghostbusters tell the mayor of their discoveries but are dismissed; his assistant Jack Hardemeyer has them committed to a psychiatric hospital to protect the mayor's political interests. A spirit appearing as Janosz kidnaps Oscar, and Dana pursues them into the museum, which is then covered with impenetrable slime.
On New Year's Eve, the slime rises to the streets, causing widespread supernatural chaos. Discovering Hardemeyer's actions, the enraged mayor fires him and has the Ghostbusters released. Determining that a positive symbol will rally the citizens and weaken the slime, the Ghostbusters use slime charged with positive emotions to animate and pilot the Statue of Liberty through the streets filled with cheering citizens. At the museum, the slime barrier partially recedes due to the positive emotions, and the Ghostbusters use the Statue's torch to break through the ceiling, stopping Vigo from possessing Oscar, then rappel through the ceiling and neutralize Janosz with positive slime. Vigo takes on a physical form, immobilizes Dana and the Ghostbusters, and recaptures Oscar. The gathered crowds outside begin singing a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne", and their positivity weakens Vigo, sending him back to the painting and freeing the Ghostbusters. Vigo possesses Ray, but the Ghostbusters use their weapons to free him and defeat Vigo, his painting being replaced by their likenesses surrounding Oscar. Afterwards, the city lauds the Ghostbusters and the Statue of Liberty is returned to Liberty Island.
Cast[edit]
- Bill Murray as Peter Venkman
- Dan Aykroyd as Raymond Stantz
- Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett
- Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler
- Rick Moranis as Louis Tully
- Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
- Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
- Peter MacNicol as Janosz Poha
- Kurt Fuller as Jack Hardemeyer
- David Margulies as Mayor Lenny Clotch
- Harris Yulin as Judge Stephen Wexler
- Janet Margolin as The Prosecutor
- William T. Deutschendorf and Hank J. Deutschendorf II as Baby Oscar
As well as the main cast, Ghostbusters II features Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo the Carpathian (voiced by Max von Sydow). Several relatives of the cast and crew appear in the film; Murray's brother Brian Doyle-Murray plays the Ghostbusters' psychiatric doctor, Aykroyd's niece Karen Humber portrays a schoolchild, and director Ivan Reitman's children Jason and Catherine portray, respectively, the rude child at the opening birthday party and a girl that is part of Egon's experiments.[1] Reitman cameos as a pedestrian.[2] Judy Ovitz, wife of talent agent Michael Ovitz, who represented many of the principal cast, appears as a woman in a restaurant who is slimed.[1]
Mary Ellen Trainor appears as the host of a children's party, Cheech Marin plays a dock supervisor, and Philip Baker Hall portrays the city police chief.[1] Bobby Brown (credited as Bobby Baresford Brown), who contributed to the film's soundtrack, cameos as a doorman.[3] Ben Stein plays a public works official for the mayor, and Louise Troy appears as a woman wearing a possessed mink fur coat.[1] Kevin Dunn and Chloe Webb appear as, respectively, Milton Angland and Elaine, guests on Venkman's television show.[4]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
After the success of Ghostbusters, a sequel was considered inevitable even though the film had been developed as a stand-alone project.[6][7] The development of Ghostbusters II was arduous, and the behind-the-scenes conflicts were given as much coverage in the press as the film.[8] When David Puttnam became chairman of Columbia Pictures in June 1986, he was not interested in developing an expensive sequel, and favored smaller films such as the critically acclaimed war film Hope and Glory (1987) and the comedy film Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) over big-budget blockbusters. He also greenlit several foreign-language films by European directors because he preferred making films for the "world market".[9] Ghostbusters was part of former Columbia executive Frank Price's legacy, and Puttnam had no interest in furthering that legacy while building his own.[10]
Reitman later said the delay in development was not Puttnam's fault; he said that executives above Puttnam at Columbia's New York branch had attempted to work around him, but could not get the production moving even after sidelining him. According to Reitman, the delay occurred because the main actors did not want to make a sequel for nearly three years; by the time they decided to go ahead, Murray was committed to his starring role in the Christmas comedy film Scrooged (1988). When Murray was finally ready, the script was not.[8] As co-creators, Reitman, Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis all had control over the franchise, and their unanimous approval was required to proceed.[5][11]
In April 1987, Puttnam announced that Ghostbusters II would go into production in November that year without having informed Reitman, who had not yet reviewed the unfinished script.[12][13] Puttnam was removed from his job in September. This was in part because he had alienated Murray and his talent agent Michael Ovitz. Puttnam had publicly criticized Murray as "an actor who makes millions of dollars from Hollywood without giving back to his art. He's a taker".[8][14] He also attacked expensive talent agency packages that provided scripts, directors, and stars; Ovitz also represented Aykroyd, Ramis, and Reitman.[15]
Puttnam was replaced as Columbia president by Dawn Steel.[16][9] When she took the job, her corporate bosses made it clear that getting the sequel into production was a priority.[14] Columbia had experienced a long series of box-office failures since Ghostbusters, and Ghostbusters II was seen as the best way to reverse their fortunes.[14] By November, filming was scheduled to begin in summer the following year. At the time, Murray reportedly wanted $10 million to star in the sequel and his co-stars demanded an equal amount.[17][18]
The main obstacle was the disputes between the principal cast and crew that had arisen since Ghostbusters. Ramis later said "there was a little air to clear" before they could work together.[14] In March 1988,[10] Ovitz arranged a private lunch for himself, Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, Reitman, and Ovitz's colleague, CAA head of business affairs Ray Kurtzman, at Jimmy's, a celebrity restaurant in Beverly Hills, California. Concerns were raised such as whether the principals could still carry the sequel because Murray had been away from films for so long and Aykroyd had had a series of film failures. During the meeting, the group had fun and decided they could work together.[14]
Months of negotiations followed with Reitman, Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis to negotiate a minimal salary in exchange for a percentage of the box office profits.[14][10] The deal was reported to be 10% of the box office profits each; Reitman denied that the figure was that large but said, "it's a big one".[8][10] This was to keep the budget low, aiming for approximately $30 million, whereas upfront salaries would have raised it closer to $50 million.[14] After this, the film was rushed into production, with shooting scheduled for mid-1988 in anticipation of a mid-1989 release.[10][18] Despite the five years it took to produce a sequel and its necessity for special effects, Ghostbusters II had a shorter schedule than its predecessor's one-year turnaround.[8][19] Michael C. Gross and producer Joe Medjuck returned for the sequel, each promoted to producer. Michael Chapman replaced László Kovács as cinematographer, and Bo Welch replaced John DeCuir as production designer.[20]
Writing[edit]
Aykroyd described his first draft as "really too far out... too inaccessible".[19][21] He wanted to avoid using New York City, set the film overseas, and provide a contrast to the first film's climax atop a skyscraper by including a subterranean threat.[21] This draft followed Dana Barrett, who is kidnapped and taken to Scotland, where she discovers a fairy ring—a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms sometimes linked in folklore to fairies or witches[22]—and an underground civilization.[19][21] The Ghostbusters would have had to travel through an underground pneumatic tube over 2,000 miles long that would have taken three days to traverse.[21] He eventually decided that retaining the New York setting would allow for continuity and would better fit the story he wanted to tell while allowing them to explore underground.[21]
As with Ghostbusters, Aykroyd partnered with Ramis to refine the script. Early on, they decided Ghostbusters II should reflect the five-year passage of time between the two films.[21] Ramis suggested the story focus on a baby because he had previously developed a horror film concept centered on an infant who possessed adult agility and focus. This inspired him to create the character Oscar.[19] Initially, the child was the son of Peter Venkman and Dana, who would have maintained their relationship in the intervening years. The child would have become possessed as a focal point of the film; Murray felt this created an imbalance in the story, placing too much emphasis on his and Dana's relationship with the child rather than the Ghostbusters and their character dynamics.[23] Instead, they chose to have Peter's and Dana's relationship fail, allowing her to marry, have a child and be divorced by the events of Ghostbusters II.[24] Ramis wanted to show that the Ghostbusters had not remained heroes after their victory in the previous film; he felt that would have been a less original approach.[25]
The river of slime was conceived early in their collaboration.[19] Ramis wanted the slime beneath New York to present a moral issue caused by the buildup of negative human emotions in large cities;[19][25] he considered it a metaphor for urban decay and a call to deliver a human solution, though he said this was buried deeply in the script.[14] The pair wanted negative emotions to have consequences and found humor in New York City having to be nice or face destruction, though at this point they did not know what form that destruction would take.[25] Ramis said: "Comedically, it suggested, what if everyone in New York City had to be nice for forty-eight hours?"[14] Aykroyd said they wanted to show negativity has to go somewhere, potentially into the person the emotion is directed towards. He felt this made the film more grounded compared with dealings with gods.[20] He said: "Cities everywhere are dangerous. Life has become cheap. You can go to ... see a movie and get machine-gunned on the street".[19] The story evolved far from Ramis' and Aykroyd's efforts but retained the core notion of emotions and their impact.[24] By May 1987, Aykroyd and Ramis had been working for over a year,[12] and had completed the screenplay by March 1988.[18]
In the years since the release of the more adult-oriented Ghostbusters, its animated spin-off television series The Real Ghostbusters had become popular with its target child audience. The team was tasked with balancing the needs of Ghostbusters fans and those of the cartoon's audience.[10] According to Medjuck, the cartoon's success was influential in the return of Slimer for the sequel, and they aimed to avoid contradicting the cartoon where possible; he said although the Ghostbusters have been out of work for five years, they had to act as though the cartoon's events took place after the film.[26]
Casting[edit]
According to early reports, Puttnam intended to replace the principal cast with lower-salaried actors, in part because of his disdain for Murray. Puttnam denied this in a 1987 interview and said recasting had never been an option.[14][12]
Ghostbusters II was to be the first sequel Reitman had directed, and he was worried about being able to surprise the audience without relying on elaborate special effects. He wanted to focus on character interaction, believing that was the original film's main draw.[7] Ramis was apprehensive about returning to the franchise because of the overwhelming success of Ghostbusters.[7] Murray was also hesitant; he had left acting for four years following the release of the previous film. He described Ghostbusters' success as a phenomenon that would forever be his biggest accomplishment and felt "radioactive" after the failure of his personal project The Razor's Edge (1984). He chose to avoid making films until he returned for Scrooged.[27][14] Murray was also dismissive of sequels in general, believing they exist only for "greed" or "business" reasons, the latter of which he said should carry a death sentence. He said he returned for the sequel because "working on the first Ghostbusters was the most fun any of us had".[7]
The character of Janosz Poha, portrayed by Peter MacNicol, was originally called Jason and serves as a straight man to the Ghostbusters.[28] MacNicol said the role could be played by anyone so he opted to give Poha a backstory in which he is Carpathian. He developed the accent from his Czech friend and from observations at a Romanian tourist agency.[29][30] MacNicol wanted to wear a black Beatles wig but the idea was rejected because many of the cast had dark hair.[31] The character's accent was inspired by that of Meryl Streep in the film Sophie's Choice (1982). In the script, Poha is not described as having an accent but MacNicol impressed Reitman with it at his audition.[2]
Max von Sydow provided the voice of Vigo; he completed his recordings in a single day.[2] Von Homburg reportedly only learned his voice had been dubbed with von Sydow's while watching the premiere and stormed out shortly afterward.[32] He later said his slurred voice, which was caused by a split lip, had been a hindrance in securing acting work.[33] Eugene Levy was cast as Louis' cousin Sherman, an employee at the psychiatric ward where the Ghostbusters are imprisoned. The character was instrumental in their liberation but his scenes were cut.[34][10]
Filming[edit]
Reitman began working on Ghostbusters II almost immediately after directing the 1988 comedy film Twins.[7] Principal photography began in November 1988, in New York City.[10][7] The budget was reported to be between $30 million and $40 million.[14][35][b] Filming in New York lasted approximately two weeks and consisted mostly of exterior shoots.[7][24]
The city authorities were supportive of the project and even granted the crew permission to film on Manhattan's Second Avenue during a period in which access for forty city blocks was restricted because of the visit of Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union.[24] Other locations include the Statue of Liberty[36] and Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8, the latter of which again served as the exterior of the Ghostbusters' headquarters. The updated Ghostbusters' business logo, which was gifted to the firehouse staff after filming, was hung on the outside of the building but eventually fell off.[37]
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House served as the exterior of the Manhattan Museum of Art, which housed the Vigo painting.[38] The scene of Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson's characters emerging from a manhole covered in slime was filmed in front of the building.[39] When he wrote the scene, Ramis expected the production to use a manhole, but the only available underground location was a telephone conduit. Space in the hole was limited, and the actors had to squeeze into it while covered in slime. Freezing temperatures combined with the liquid slime made the actors uncomfortable. The following day, they learned the cameras had been recording at the wrong speed and they would have to film the scene again.[40] The scene of the Ghostbusters scanning the intersection where Oscar's possessed baby carriage is taken was filmed on First Avenue.[7]
Filming had moved to Los Angeles by late December 1988.[7] Fire Station No. 23 again served as the interior of the Ghostbusters' headquarters.[41][42] Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills was used for the scene in which the Ghostbusters visit the mayor at Gracie Mansion.[43] The scene in which the Ghostbusters dig a hole to find the river of slime was filmed in downtown Los Angeles.[14] The scene in which a fur coat comes to life and runs away was filmed on a Los Angeles street; it was written for the original film but was not used and repurposed for Ghostbusters II.[2][44] Filming concluded on March 7, 1989.[10] Medjuck noted that characters are often seen smoking in Ghostbusters but a societal change in the intervening years meant this was no longer acceptable; Ghostbusters II depicts fewer scenes including smoking.[26]