Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters 2020 has gotten an official title - Ghostbusters: Afterlife - and its first images, ahead of its trailer’s premiere on Monday. The Juno and Up in the Air filmmaker is picking up the torch from his father, Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II director Ivan Reitman, by directing a third film set in the original Ghostbusters universe. As this implies, the upcoming sequel will be disconnected from Paul Feig’s 2016 reboot of the paranormal horror-comedy franchise.
Written by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan (Monster House, City of Ember), the latest Ghostbusters movie stars Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Mckenna Grace (Annabelle Comes Home), Carrie Coon (The Leftovers), and Ant-Man himself, Paul Rudd, as brand-new characters who have the potential to carry the property forward from here. And speaking of torch-passing: several actors from the 1984 Ghostbusters are slated to appear in this new sequel, including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, and Ernie Hudson in their famous roles. Now, fans can get their first proper glimpse at the actual film.
Although the title leaked online last week, Vanity Fair has now confirmed Ghostbusters 2020 (as it was originally called) will be officially known as Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The outlet has further announced the first trailer will arrive on Monday, December 6, and revealed the very first photos from the movie ahead of then. You can check them out below, along with the film’s teaser poster.
As part of its coverage, Vanity Fair also dropped some concrete plot and character details for Afterlife. The Ghostbusters sequel stars Coon as Callie and Wolfhard and Grace as her children - gearhead Trevor and science-loving Phoebe - and follows the three as they move to small town Oklahoma, after inheriting some property from the father Callie never knew. There, the family discovers the Ghostbusters’ iconic vehicle, the Ecto-1, beneath a tarp in their farmhouse’s barn, along with other classic Ghostbusters tech and books on topics related to the paranormal. Also onboard for the ride is Rudd as Mr. Grooberson, a local summer school teacher who knows all about the Manhattan Crossrip (aka. Gozer’s attack on NYC in the 1984 Ghostbusters), and helps Phoebe when she and a schoolmate (Logan Kim) discover something mysterious is happening in a nearby mine.
While the trailer could paint a different picture, Ghostbusters: Afterlife looks and sounds more dramatic and grounded than the previous Ghostbusters movies so far. That’s not surprising though; Jason Reitman’s work in the past has often blended comedy and drama, and it stands to reason he would take a similar approach to this franchise. Obviously, there will be playful scares and laughs aplenty (this is still a Ghostbusters film, after all), but it seems Afterlife will deal with themes of family, loss, regret, and the figurative ghosts of the past with its central storyline. Of course, for now, the big question is: which of the original Ghostbusters are Callie, Trevor, and Phoebe related to, anyway? Tune in for the trailer next Monday to (maybe) find out!
Source: Vanity Fair
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife Release Date: 2021-11-19
