Sony has announced today that Ghostbusters: Afterlife is getting a sequel. The sequel is expected to bring back the main cast introduced by Ghostbuster: Afterlife, including Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, and Carrie Coon, as they explore “the next chapter in the Spengler family story.” The code name revealed by director Jason Reitman is “FIREHOUSE,” alluding to the iconic Ghostbusters headquarters from the original film. The new movie is set to take place back where it all began as the Spengler family returns to Manhattan in New York City.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife follows a mother (Coon) and her two kids (Wolfhard and Grace) moving to Oklahoma, where the children discover their grandfather worked with the original Ghostbusters team. While exploring their family’s past, the children become part of a new generation of Ghostbusters that ends up fighting a world-threatening supernatural menace. Since the movie is deeply connected to the first film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife features many returning faces, including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts. The film also honored the late Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler, the only member of the original Ghostbuster team who could not be part of the revival.
While fans were thrilled to see the heroes from the past returning for the last showdown, Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s primary mission was to pass the torch on to a new generation. That means the recently announced sequel should focus on the new team and their subsequent adventures instead of just nodding at the past. That’s an exciting perspective, as the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife might finally allow the beloved franchise to expand towards new directions. Of course, we all love a nostalgic tale from time to time, but it’s good to know Sony intends to do something fresh with the Ghostbusters.
As a direct sequel to 1984’s Ghostbusters and 1989’s Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Afterlife honors the original films both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. That’s because the revival’s director Jason Reitman’s father, Ivan Reitman, helmed the two original films and came back as a producer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Besides directing, Reitman (son) also co-wrote the script of Ghostbusters: Afterlife together with Gil Kenan. Sadly Reitman (father) passed away earlier this year and won’t be seeing the universe he helped created being expanded by his son. However, with the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife announced, the Reitman legacy will remain alive for many years to come.
While Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s $176 million box office might seem modest, the revival was launched when movie theaters were still feeling the worst effects of the pandemics. So, Sony rightfully weighted in the delicate context and decided that the revival was a commercial success. While Sony had previously announced its intentions to move forward with the franchise, so far we didn’t know their plans. Now that a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife is in development, as well as a new animated feature, and animated series we can look forward to many ghost-busting adventures on the horizon.