Trafalgar Releasinghas announced the record-setting success forGHOST‘s“Rite Here Rite Now”. Inclusive of the screenings on June 20 through 23, the unique feature-length concert/narrative film entered the worldwide Top 10 box office at No. 9 with a total gross of $5.04 million worldwide from limited showtimes.
“Rite Here Rite Now”, which screened in over 1,800 cinemas across 49 territories, combines never-before-seen 2023 concert footage ofGrammy Award-winning rock bandGHOSTwith a narrative story that picks up plot threads from the band’s long-running“Chapters”series, directed byGHOST‘sTobias ForgeandAlex Ross Perry(“Her Smell”).
“Rite Here Rite Now”entered the Top 10 of the North America box office with a cumulative total gross of $2.65 million, making it the highest-grossing hard rock cinema event ever in North America. The film reached No. 3 at the June 20 box office with a gross of more than $1.12 million and a per-screen average of $1,492 across 755 movie theaters. On June 21, it grossed more than $238,000 across 366 movie theaters. Continuing its success, it landed at No. 7 at the June 22 box office with a gross of more than $1.03 million and a per-screen average of $1,376 across 751 movie theaters. Finally, on June 23, it grossed over $257,000 and a per-screen average of $718 across 358 movie theaters.
Regional highlights also included U.K. and Ireland with a $606,000 gross and No. 5 at the box office, Germany with a $332,000 gross and No. 3 at the box office, Mexico with a $326,000 gross and a No. 5 box office position for the weekend, and Australia with a $178,000 gross and No. 6 at the box office.
GHOST has released a new surprise song called “The Future Is A Foreign Land” last weekend.
The Swedish band took to social media to reveal the “newly uncovered 1969-era” track, which is featured on the soundtrack toGHOST‘s debut film,“Rite Here Rite Now”.
Watch “The Future Is A Foreign Land” below.
At the world premiere of GHOST‘s debut film,“Rite Here Rite Now”, on June 18 at London, United Kingdom’s Picturehouse Central, GHOSTleaderTobias ForgetoldRock Soundabout the making of the movie: “As any semi-gargantuan task, as fun as it is, it’s also draining. I’m used to working towards deadlines, but filmmaking is definitely a lot… You can release records into the society and people will buy it or not, whereas tickets you have to sell too, but cinemas are a little bit like venues. So you can’t just release a film or move it like a week. If you don’t deliver on time, it would be delayed, like, months. So we’ve been sort of zoning in on this date, basically today, for the last nine months. So it feels like a giant relief because at points during the making of the film, there was definitely a sense of urgency, especially for everyone who had to answer to someone, which I guess I had to too, but I also understood the urgency of things having to be delivered on time. But now we’re finally here, against all odds.”
“Rite Here Rite Now: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”track listing:
01.Imperium
02.Kaisarion
03.Rats
04.Faith
05.Spillways
06.Cirice
07.Absolution
08.Call Me Little Sunshine
09.Watcher In The Sky
10.If You Have Ghosts (Chamber Version)
11.Twenties
12.Miasma
13.Mary On A Cross
14.Respite On The Spitalfields
15.Kiss The Go-Goat
16.Dance Macabre
17.Square Hammer
18.The Future Is A Foreign Land*
* All songs recorded live from the Kia Forum except“Future is a Foreign Land”
GHOSTleaderTobias ForgetoldNMEabout the lyrical theme of“The Future Is A Foreign Land”: “The message is that there’s a great lesson lost if you look at what is going on in the world now and what took us here… If you’re lucky enough to experience this film in the cinema, you’re pretty well off. You’re one of the lucky ones and you should enjoy life, embrace it and do everything in your power to make life better for you and everyone you know. But remember the cost that it took for mankind in the past 55 years to get here and the sort of sh*t that we put each other through fighting for what we believe is a better world. I’’s meant to make you feel thankful somehow that we can laugh at certain things and be at a fictional rock concert in this world.”
Shot over the course ofGHOST‘s two sold-out shows at Los Angeles’s hallowed Kia Forum,“Rite Here Rite Now”fully immerses viewers in the technicolor melodrama of the vaunted live ritual that has helped to propel Sweden’s foremost theatrical rock export toGrammy-winning, chart-topping, arena-headlining status the world over.
“Rite Here Rite Now”is, however, so much more than a concert movie.GHOST‘s debut feature film combines live performance from the two-night finale of the band’s“Re-Imperatour”U.S.A. 2023 with a narrative story that picks up plot threads from the band’s long-running“Chapters”series. The result is an utterly unique phantasmagorical blend: Flesh and bone renditions of favorites from all five ofGHOST‘s albums as well as theRIAAplatinum-certified“Mary On A Cross”and more are interwoven with the silver screen debuts of a few faces familiar to the band’s legions of fans — all interacting behind the scenes withGHOST‘sPapa Emeritus IV, as his future and fate lay in the hands of the Ministry.
Whether you’re a devoted disciple looking to relive treasured memories of theGHOSTlive spectacle or among the curious uninitiated,“Rite Here Rite Now”will put you right there: putting your phones down and living in the moment — as a shadow of uncertainty looms — completely spellbound and in the thrall of this bombastic yet intimate cinematic portrait ofGHOST.
The original motion picture soundtrack to“Rite Here Rite Now”will be released on July 26 viaLoma Vista Recordings. A fitting 18-song complement toGHOST‘s debut feature film, the band’s first-ever original soundtrack will be available on all formats (digital, CD, 2xLP). Pre-orders are live now, and include the soundtrack’s live version of“Absolution”, captured at that now-legendary two-night stand at the Forum, as an instant grat track available onYouTube.
Forgeexplained: “Over a decade ago whenGHOSTgot signed toLoma Vista,Tom Whalley(owner and CEO) asked what the story of the band was. He felt telling a story was vital in order to get new fans engaged. I said that because we were a new ‘baby’ band and more importantly we were ananonymousbaby band, there wasn’t really a compelling story to tell. Not yet anyway. But I told him that if he wanted a story, I could come up with one. This film is the fruit of that conversation.”
DirectorAlex Ross Perrysaid: “Collaborating withTobiasto expand the saga ofGHOSTinto a feature film has been a wicked delight. This movie allowed us to be inspired by everything from silent horror to‘The Great Rock N’ Roll Swindle’, fromRalph BakshitoKISS ‘Alive II’. The influences were many, but above all, the ultimate goal was to make a one-of-a-kind feast not only forGHOSTfans, but all lovers of the cinematic alchemy between rock spectacle and spooky delights.”
Kymberli Frueh, SVP of programming and content acquisitions atTrafalgar Releasing, added: “The mystery, mystique, and musical style ofGHOSThas created such a dedicated allegiance to the band. Our cinemas provide the perfect immersive experience to unite fans as a community and experienceGHOST‘s elaborate performances with big screens and big sound.”
“Rite Here Rite Now”is produced byPopecorn Cinematic Pictures. Producers includeKristen Mulderig,Rick Sales,Craig ButtaandJonas Åkerlund.
Last October,Forgeconfirmed that footage from the band’s September 2023 two shows at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California would be used as part of the film.
“When I first started putting it together, I was, like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to faint because there’s so much to think about,'”ForgetoldMetal Hammermagazine. “Then it was, like, ‘No, no, just don’t think about it at all.'”
BothGHOSTshows at the Forum were device-free experiences. Use of phones and smart watches was not permitted in the performance space. Upon arrival at the venue, devices were secured in individualYondrpouches that were opened at the end of the event.
“I have never seen a crowd interact the way that they did since I was in a club band,”Forgesaid. “They were the best shows I’ve ever done withGHOST, just because I didn’t have to see those f*cking mobile phones.”
Tobiaswent on to say thatGHOSTwas “essentially shooting a film. And we used two nights of crowds as extras,” he explained. “It’s going to be a film with a concert element. So a lot of what you experienced at the two L.A. shows is going to be part of this project.”
Tobiaswas also asked if theGHOSTfilm will be similar toMETALLICA‘s“Through The Never”, which starred members of the iconic rock band andDane DeHaan(“Chronicle”,“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”).DeHaanplayed a young band crew member who is sent out on an urgent mission while the band is playing a rousing live set in front of a sold-out crowd and unexpectedly finds his world turned completely upside down.Forgereplied: “In the sense that it’s a concert with something else combined.”
At the Forum shows,GHOSTperformed the song“Twenties”live for the very first time live. They also played their cover ofRoky Erikson‘s“If You Have Ghosts”, which was originally reimagined byGHOSTfor their 2013 EP“If You Have Ghost”. The band’s version of the track at the Forum featured two cellists with a piano playing, and it was performed on a separate stage from the rest of the set.
Back in 2019,ForgetoldRevolverthat there was aGHOSTfeature film in the works. He added, however, that this wouldn’t be your typical “rockumentary” or even a concert film, but something else entirely.
“Most films about bands are biographical, and I see no reason to tell our story yet,”Forgesaid. “It’s a little bit like premature ejacul*tion. You have to have a career first and then you can tell the real story, so that was never an option. And when you yank away that, what do you have? Well, that would be a fictional story.”
WhenForgespoke toRevolverabout theGHOSTfilm four years ago, he explained that it would be a while before the project came to fruition.
“The cog wheels are turning on that one,” he said. “We’re just trying to figure out a lot of the practicalities. Making a film is a big endeavor. Another problem that I have had over the course of my career is that I don’t have a sh*t-ton of time. I’ve learned over the years that it’s really important not to do everything at once.”
This second coming of“Jesus He Knows Me”is accompanied by anAlex Ross Perry-directed video that will surely make the case that one person’s beauty is another’s blasphemy. Culminating in a climactic ritual that must be seen to be believed,GHOST‘s visual interpretation of“Jesus He Knows Me”rises to the occasion in unholy fashion — and then some.
“Phantomime”track listing:
01. See No Evil (TELEVISION)
02.Jesus He Knows Me(GENESIS)
03.Hanging Around(THE STRANGLERS)
04.Phantom Of The Opera(IRON MAIDEN)
05.We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)(Tina Turner)
GHOSTis no stranger to covers, having previously tackled material originally written and recorded byTHE BEATLES(“Here Comes The Sun”),ABBA(“I’m A Marionette”),DEPECHE MODE(“Waiting For The Night”),Roky Erickson(“If You Have Ghosts”),METALLICA(“Enter Sandman”),PET SHOP BOYS(“It’s A Sin”) andEURYTHMICS(“Missionary Man”),among others.
This past February,GHOSTrevealed details of its upcoming“Re-Imperatour”summer 2023 U.S. tour with special guestAMON AMARTH. Produced byLive NationandFPC Live, the 27-date trek kicks off on Wednesday, August 2 in Concord, California at Concord Pavilion, with stops in Salt Lake City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Austin and more before wrapping up with the band’s Monday, September 11 return to the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
GHOSTis continuing to tour in support of its latest album,“Impera”, which sold 70,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked the third top 10 album — and fifth top 40-charting set — for the Swedish act. The 12-song effort was produced byKlas Åhlundand mixed byAndy Wallace.
“Impera”landed at position No. 1 in Germany and Sweden, No. 2 in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, No. 3 in Australia, No. 5 in France and Ireland, and No. 20 in Italy.
GHOSTleaderTobias Forge worked on the follow-up to 2018’s “Prequelle”withÅhlundand Swedish co-writersSalem Al FakirandVincent Pontare, whose credits include MadonnaandLady Gaga.
