How Much Money Would the Ghostbusters’ Business Actually Be Worth?

Ghostbusters is a perfect idea for a movie, but what about its viability as a business? Are Venkman and Ray able to make ends meet by catching ghosts in New York City, or is the whole operation just one slow month away from closing up shop? Well, the folks over at Bizdaq decided to crunch the numbers to see just how much the Ghostbusters’ business would actually be worth in the real world.

The site took everything into account: Manhattan rent, equipment, and all the other expenses the team would have run into during their first year on the job. While the Ghostbusters never explicitly say how much they make per year, at one point, when they capture Slimer at 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.”

So the site guesses that each ghost nets about $5000, and they capture nine ghosts during the span of the film. Since the film takes place from early October through November 9, 1984, that means the team made an estimated $45,000 in about a five-week span. If that rate stays the same, it averages out to around $468,000 for their first year, which would be $1,092,731 in 2016 dollars.

Of course, that’s all money that the ‘Busters made before things like rent, utilities, salary, etc. were factored in. Bizdaq makes plenty of other calculations to see what the business is actually worth when all their expenses and assets are considered, leading to an estimated total of $627,483 in 2016 dollars. That’s an impressive haul for a first-year start-up, especially one that specializes in taking down sentient marshmallows the size of skyscrapers.

[h/t: Nerdist]