Sony/Columbia Pictures’ Ghostbusters reboot is incredibly interesting to me on so many levels.

The saying “all press is good press” was truly put to the test with Paul Feig’s remake, which has been under attack by (mostly) misogynistic superfans since the first trailer dropped (it’s been reported as among the most disliked of all time). Sony movie studio chief Tom Rothman told THR that the controversy is “the greatest thing that ever happened,” adding, “Are you kidding me? We’re in the national debate, thank you. Can we please get some more haters to say stupid things?”

Yes, Ghostbusters chatter has been everywhere, but did it translate into box office gold? It depends on how you look at it, although it’s being reported that Ghostbusters lost out to The Secret Life of Pets and pulled in an estimated $46 million. This isn’t surprising at all, though, as early projections placed it within that range. In fact, I reported that the franchise was in serious trouble weeks before release, which has now been substantiated in a report on Variety that goes through a similar mathematical breakdown as I did.

The film carries a massive $144 million price tag, plus at least $100 million more in marketing costs. Insiders estimate that it will have to do at least $300 million globally to break even and substantially more than that to justify a sequel.

I’m always surprised when I read site’s report on box office with zero understanding of the basic cost breakdown. First, a portion of the box office GROSS goes to the theaters, as much as 50% (I am unclear of the exact breakdown). This mean that, if Ghostbusters makes $150 million here in the States, Sony probably only netted $75 million. As reported above, the cost to shoot and market exceeds $250 million. $75 million makes Ghostbusters a HUGE bust. International needs to be killer, like with Terminator: Genysis, in order for Sony to positively move forward with a sequel.

But here’s why Ghostbusters is such an interesting experiment. Outside of the executives at Sony, and maybe even Paul Feig, nobody knows what the long game is. If you look at Disney’s acquisitions of Star Wars and Marvel properties, it not about making movies, it’s about making movies to sell merchandise. (It’s similar to how Disney started making movies based on their theme park attractions to get people to go back to the parks.) Ghostbusters represents a merchandising goldmine…unless of course the consumer doesn’t want anything. Early reports indicated that many major retailers – from Target to Walmart – began discounting the Ghostbusters products weeks before the film’s release. Ecto Cooler, on the other hand, is still incredibly hard to find. I’ve been keeping tabs on the merch (on Amazon and Ebay, and through visits to retailers), and after the film’s release this past Friday, product is becoming scarce. This could mean renewed popularity, which could slowly help Ghostbusters climb out of a hole.

Still, only executives at Sony know the long game. And they continue to boast exuberance and extreme confidence in their franchise:

“The ‘Ghostbusters’ world is alive and well,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at the studio. “I expect ‘Ghostbusters’ to become an important brand and franchise,” he told TheWrap on Sunday.

“While nothing has been officially announced yet, there’s no doubt in my mind it will happen,” he added.

As one of my colleague’s pointed out, Sony responded the same way when The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo failed to light the box office on fire, although that franchise is nowhere near that of Ghostbusters. With that said, the statement feels like nothing more than reassuring stockholders that their investments are safe.

No matter, it’s hard to stand on our side of the conversation and know exactly what Sony’s plans are. I mean, we don’t even know how the reboot impacted the first two films’ home video numbers, nor do we know how the merchandising deals were set up and how they impact Sony’s numbers. If there were one franchise that could survive a lukewarm opening, it’s that of Ghostbusters.

Feig‘s female-led reboot starring Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon wasn’t a critic smash by any means, but it’s receiving a tremendous amount of support and there are those who loved it (I thought it was absolutely hysterical and preserved the spirit of the original). Could strong word of mouth and positive buzz change the course of the film and prevent it from a massive drop next weekend?

There’s a lot at stake here, and I’m really curious to see how things unfold in the coming weeks. But mostly I want to know what you guys thought of the film? What would you like to see if Sony were to continue forth with the franchise?