I'm a huge fan of Ghostbusters, and in 2024 the franchise is celebrating 40 years, which is quite an accomplishment. For the last two years, my chapter (The Northern California Ghostbusters) has been guessing what Sony will do for the 40th anniversary. We were hoping for something with the same energy and production level as Ghostbusters Fan Fest in 2019: two full days of cast and crew, music, swag, photo ops, and music by Ray Parker Jr. himself.
Well, sadly, as reported by Jason over at Ghostbustersnews.com, Sony has made an announcement for their plans for the 40th anniversary, (well not really the 40th anniversary, but rather just Ghostbusters Day) and it honestly just feels like an afterthought. The announcement came in on a Friday, May 31st, that on June 7th, 2024, “The Los Angeles City Council will officially declare Ghostbusters Day in LA, with the celebration kicking off at 10 a.m. PST at City Hall."
If you’ve ever booked airline tickets less than two weeks in advance, you know they gouge prices. The news broke out seven days before the so-called “event,” which is honestly barely enough notice to book flights/hotels or get time off work to enjoy that day. This alone kind of points to the fact that Sony, in my opinion, didn’t really want to do anything for the 40th anniversary. The fact that they barely gave a week's notice, makes it rather obvious. While this is technically "Ghostbusters Day" it's pretty upsetting that nothing seemed planed for the 40th Anniversary of the franchise.
Okay, so there is an event. What’s going to be there? Well, according to Ghostbustersnews.com, the day will start at Los Angeles City Hall and feature a “fleet” of “Ectomobiles” and a “special guest,” and well, that’s about it. I’m not trying to rag on Ghostbusters Day or the Los Angeles chapter (who, by the looks of it, have made the effort to do something for Ghostbusters' 40th Anniversary). Later this week, there was another announcement that the 1984 film would be screening in theaters again on June 8th, but again the list is abysmally small. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say this list is, well kind of pathetic.
The fans and the franchise deserved better for a 40th anniversary. With Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire releasing this year and making 200 million dollars, to not have a Fanfest-type event is really disappointing. I hope in the future Sony pays more attention to anniversaries because 40 was a big one, and we got the bare minimum effort. It’s this writer's opinion that Sony and Ghost Corps just didn’t bother or forgot about this landmark anniversary. Maybe they’ll make up for it next year, though I'm doubtful.
