Ghostbusters is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as three eccentric parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranisco-star as a client and her neighbor, and Ernie Hudson as the Ghostbusters' first recruit.
Aykroyd conceived the film as a project for himself and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi, with the "Ghostmashers" travelling through time and space. He and Ramis dramatically rewrote the script following Belushi's death and after Reitman deemed Aykroyd's initial vision financially impractical.
Ghostbusters was released in the United States on June 8, 1984. It was a critical and commercial success, receiving a positive response from critics and audiences and grossing US$242 million in the United States and more than $295 million worldwide. It was nominated for two Oscars at the 57th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Original Song (for the eponymous theme song), but lost to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Woman in Red respectively. The American Film Institute ranked Ghostbusters 28th in its AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list of film comedies. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The film launched the Ghostbusters media franchise, which includes a 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II; two animated television series, The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters; and several video games. A reboot starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones is released in July 2016.