The Ghostbusters Franchise Is Expanding In Some Exciting Directions
Fun fact! Apparently, there's an annual "Ghostbusters Day" celebrated on June 8 — the release date for the original film back in 1984. Would it, perhaps, be more logical to honor the comedy spooktacular franchise during the month already allotted for ghosts and ghouls? Sure, but that's not what's going on, and if it were, then the recent news from Sony Pictures and Ghost Corps (a production company whose sole directive is to oversee Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis' beloved intellectual property) probably would've been put off for another handful of long, Ghostbuster-less months.
To celebrate the occasion of "Ghostbusters Day" in 2022, the two companies came together and announced a slew of future "Ghostbusters" projects that are planned to keep the franchise alive and well in the public consciousness. The reveals came in the form of a presentation at Ectofest, a fan event that took place at Sony Pictures Studios (via Ghostbusters News). Here's what director Jason Reitman and writer Gil Kenan officially shared about the next strange thing in the neighborhood.
Ghostbusters is getting an animated film and an Afterlife sequel, among other new projects
According to Variety, Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan used their presentation to share a massive list of new projects, including a "Ghostbusters" VR game and a Dark Horse comics series set sometime after "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." Of course, the most important news dealt with the feature-film future of the beloved franchise.
Firstly, Sony Pictures Animation is now set to develop a new animated movie based within the world of the "Ghostbusters" franchise. Reports indicate that "The Legend of Vox Machina" executive producer Chris Prynoski and "DC Super Hero Girls" producer Jennifer Kluska have been contracted to direct the production, while "How I Met Your Mother" producer Brenda Hsueh is set to write the script. No concrete storyline for the animated feature was shared, but word on the project comes less than a day after news dropped regarding an upcoming animated "Ghostbusters" TV series.
The second big piece of news came when Reitman and Kenan revealed an upcoming sequel for "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," which will return the live-action films to the famous New York City firehouse of the previous duology. Of course, this aligns with a tease left at the end of "Afterlife," which saw Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) return to his old stomping grounds determined to expand the Ghostbusters team once more.
Reitman and Kenan declined to share specific details on the story, and neither project was given a definite release date.