In the Ghostbusters series, the titular busters provide the service of peace of mind: It feels good to know that there’s somebody specific you can call when there’s something strange in your neighborhood. The actual ghostbusting services themselves aren’t just essential for a world ridden with paranormal activity throughout it, but it also seems to be decent business for Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis… but is it really?
This is a question whose answer we’d love to figure out for ourselves, but it turns out that’s not necessary, because it’s already because the number-crunchers at BizDaq already ran the match and came up with some answers that make plenty of sense to us (via CinemaBlend).
There’s a lot to consider here, and it appears that all of it has indeed been considered. They start by determining the trio’s revenue, and while that’s never explicitly stated in the movie, they do have one inkling of information to go off of: When they capture Slimer in the Sedgewick Hotel, they say, “For the entrapment, we’re gonna have to ask you for four big ones. Four thousand for that. But we are having a special this week on proton charging and storage of the beast, and that’s only going to come to one thousand dollars, fortunately.”
Their investigation is full of similarly gathered evidence, and after considering the cost of rent, gear, business expenses, and other factors, the figure they came up with $627,483, adjusted for inflation from 1984. Considering the Ghostbusters started the business after they were fired from Columbia University, they seemed to have turned into a sustainable business pretty quickly, because of course, everything Bill Murray touches is gold.
Featured image: Columbia Pictures
