The first description of the next theatrical installment of Ghostbusters should make fans of the franchise very happy.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman and his co-writer Gil Kenan shared some early plot details for the upcoming sequel, which will see the return of the Spengler family. "We’re writing another movie," they said. "Tonight, we’re going to share the code name for the next chapter in the Spengler family story."
https://twitter.com/ghostbusters/status/1534746294270296064
Reitman and Kenan officially announced the sequel's working title "Firehouse," as part of Ghostbusters Day 2022. The next installment will start where Afterlife left off, with O.G. Ghostbuster Winston Zedmore (Ernie Hudson) using his company resources to help with the Spengler family's financial issues and to reopen the original team's firehouse headquarters. The last shot in the Afterlife post-credit scene showed the containment unit in the firehouse basement flashing red, indicating some new ghost trouble that lays ahead.
Directed by Reitman's father Ivan and starring Bill Murray, 1984's Ghostbusters was the year's top-grossing movie at the box office. It spawned an all-time classic in its theme song by Ray Parker Jr., a hugely successful animated series The Real Ghostbusters which ran on ABC from 1986 to 1991 and a plethora of video games as well as toy licenses. The 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II, however, grossed far less than its predecessor and was met with mixed reviews from critics and audiences. This underperformance created a strain between the cast, director Reitman, and screenwriters Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis for several years, holding up development on a third installment.
Following the passing of Harold Ramis in 2014, Sony greenlit a reboot of Ghostbusters featuring female leads. Directed by Paul Feig and starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, 2016's Ghostbusters polarized audiences and grossed $229 million worldwide on a reported $144 million budget. Released in 2021, Reitman's Ghostbusters: Afterlife proved satisfying to fans for being nostalgic for the franchise's past while passing the torch to a new generation.
While Reitman has not discussed further details about the next installment's story, he previously discussed tapping back to the events of Ghostbusters II with a possible return for the sequel's villain, Vigo the Carpathian. "Look, are you saying that's the only painting of Vigo the Carpathian? Maybe, he's riding a horse in another one, maybe, impaling someone in another one," said Reitman.
The next Ghostbusters movie does not yet have a release date.
Source: Twitter
