Ghostbusters Reference Review - Wonder Woman 1984

Most Ghostbusters references are short bits that can best be encapsulated with a small video clip, as evidenced by Spook Central's collection of Ghostbusters reference videos on Critical Commons. However, sometimes there's a reference for which a small clip won't do it justice. It is for these types of references that I have this reoccurring feature here at Spook Central, the Ghostbusters Reference Review.

I just watched and reviewed the Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) 4K UHD/Blu-ray Combo Pack. The film stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, and Ghostbusters (2016)'s Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah.

Early in the film, after being stood-up for a date (as if!), Diana hails a cab. In the background, playing at the Georgetown Theater, is Ghostbusters and Footloose. (History Lesson: Although the Georgetown Theater - 1351 Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, DC - stopped showing movies decades ago and was turned into apartments in 2016, the film crew brought the building back to its previous life...albeit temporary.)


Weirdly, even though the theater is in Washington DC, it's displaying the European-style poster, with the slash in the No Ghost logo going from top-left to bottom-right.


Eagle-eyed viewers may even notice the poster/logo earlier in the scene. It's out-of-focus in the background when the man with the rose crosses the street...


...and again when the waiter speaks to Diana at the table.


Finally, although not Ghostbusters-related, the movie also features a nice reference for us wrestling fans. A bit past the halfway point of the movie, Diana, Steve, and Barbara visit Mayan-descendant Babajide (Ravi Patel) to learn the history of the mystical wish-granting stone. Diana spies a copy of Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine featuring Jerry Lawler on the cover. It also features a subscription label revealing Babajide's real name as Frank Patel (Ravi's father?).


The movie prop says "July 1984" on it, but the real July 1984 issue featured Jimmy Valiant on its cover. The magazine shown is actually the August 1984 issue, as confirmed by Lawler himself on Twitter.


I guess the filmmakers really wanted to use the Lawler issue (or it was already cleared for use), but they couldn't have it conflict with the film's July 1984 setting, so they altered it.