Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019)

The cast and crew of Ghostbusters discuss the making of the beloved 1984 supernatural comedy and its impact on popular culture.

The 1980s gave us the greatest action movie in Die Hard (1988) and perfected the blockbuster post-Jaws (1975). That film’s director, Steven Spielberg, was in ascendance by the mid-1980s, so his sequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was expected to be the biggest release of 1984… until Ghostbusters happened.

Columbia Pictures’ supernatural comedy surpassed everyone’s expectations. Grossing a staggering $238M at the box-office, Ghostbusters became the highest-grossing comedy of the decade. Created by Saturday Night Live alumni Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers) and Harold Ramis (Caddyshack), Ghostbusters become a cultural phenomenon that spawned a hit theme song (Ray Parker Jr.’s “Who You Gonna Call?”), action figures, books, and beloved animated series The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991).