Last Updated: June 16, 2020
The Ghostbusters franchise will continue with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and there's already so much we know about the film. So far, the movie franchise includes 1984's Ghostbusters, 1989's Ghostbusters II, and the 2016 female-led Ghostbusters reboot.
The series kicked off in the early 1980s by following the fictional Ghostbusters team - parapsychologists Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), and their friend Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) - on their various adventures as a ghost removal service. The sci-fi comedy concept was such a hit with audiences that it spawned a sequel and a reboot and has gone on to be the subjects of animated TV shows, comics, toys, apparel, and more. Given how beloved Ghostbusters is, it's no wonder a new Ghostbusters film is on the way.
With production already underway and a release date set, it's officially time to get excited about the next Ghostbusters film. Here's everything we know so far, from the cast to the director, to which original cast members will return.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife originally had its sights set on becoming a huge summer hit, formerly being scheduled for release on July 10, 2020. That was until the Coronavirus pandemic arrived to throw the world into disarray. Ghostbusters: Afterlife will now release in theaters on March 5, 2021, placing it into direct competition with Warner Bros.' new Tom and Jerry movie, and between the February 12 release of Marvel's Eternals and the March 19 release of Sony's Marvel spinoff Morbius.
Jason Reitman directs Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Reitman's career has taken off as a director over the last decade or so. His feature-length film debut was 2005's Thank You For Smoking, starring Aaron Eckhart. He then moved on to the acclaimed Juno written by Diablo Cody and starring Ellen Page, Up in the Air with George Clooney, Young Adult with Charlize Theron, Labor Day, and most recently, the Hugh Jackman political drama The Front Runner. Reitman is an established director, but he is also the son of Ivan Reitman. Fans of the first two Ghostbusters films know Ivan directed them, and he returns as a producer, turning Ghostbusters into a family affair.
At the center of Ghostbusters: Afterlife are two teenage siblings, Phoebe and Trevor, played by McKenna Grace (The Haunting of Hill House) and Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things). Their mom Callie is played by Carrie Coon, acclaimed for her work on The Leftovers. Paul Rudd also stars as Mr. Grooberson, the kids' summer school teacher, and an expert in the lore of the original Ghostbusters team. Relative newcomers Logan Kim and Celeste O'Connor are set to play heretofore unnamed supporting roles.
The most exciting development for fans of the 1980s movies is of course the return of Ghostbusters' surviving original cast to their classic roles. Bill Murray returns as Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd is back as Ray Stantz, Ernie Hudson reprises Winston Zeddemore, and Annie Potts once again plays Janine Melnitz. The only two actors missing in action are Harold Ramis, who passed away in 2014, and Rick Moranis, who's now mostly retired from movies.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife moves the franchise out of New York City for the first time, relocating to the small town of Summerville, Oklahoma. Siblings Phoebe and Trevor move with their mom into a house owned by their late grandfather, who none of the three knew well. It turns out he was none other than Egon Spengler, and when mysterious events of a possibly paranormal origin begin happening, the family uncovers their connection to the now long forgotten original Ghostbusters.
While Jason Reitman has stated that Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a sequel to only his father's films, and ignores Paul Feig's 2016 Ghostbusters film, it's a bit unclear if the events of Ghostbusters 2 are still being considered canon. In the marketing for Afterlife, references have only been made to the 1984 original, and talk about how the Ghostbusters have fallen into obscurity in the decades since the "Manhattan Crossrip" when Gozer arrived to wreak havoc. While Ghostbusters 2 isn't as beloved as the first film, many fans will undoubtedly be disappointed if its story is ignored.
One group of people that are already upset is the cast, crew, and fans of Ghostbusters 2016, who feel slighted, and see Ghostbusters: Afterlife as essentially erasing their film from history. Considering that the original Ghostbusters cast made cameos as different characters in that movie though, there's really no way to acknowledge the 2016 story and characters in a way that makes sense. Feig is also personally bothered because he really wanted to make a sequel to his film, and feels like Afterlife shuts the door on that possibility.
Reitman released a teaser trailer in January 2019 featuring iconic Ghostbusters mobile the Ecto-1. In this Ghostbusters 2020 teaser, the camera pans in on something under a tarp in what looks like a barn or warehouse. A wind blows the tarp up to reveal the Ecto-1 and the Ghostbusters logo. The footage was specifically shot for the teaser and most likely won't be featured in any future trailers or in the film itself. In December 2019, Sony released the full trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which served to confirm the story's connection to Egon, and generally drew widespread praise.
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