Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Plot

In Summerville, Oklahoma, Egon Spengler captures an entity in occultist Ivo Shandor's mine outside of town and lures another to his farm. He activates an elaborate setup on his property, but the power fails. Egon manages to conceal the ghost trap in his home before being attacked by the entity and suffering a fatal heart attack before the entity returns to the mine.

His estranged and financially struggling daughter Callie inherits the farm, moving there with her children, Trevor and Phoebe, after being evicted from their Chicago apartment. Trevor becomes infatuated with carhop Lucky Domingo and the scientifically minded Phoebe enrolls in a summer science class taught by seismologist Gary Grooberson, whom Callie later dates.

Phoebe discovers the farmhouse is haunted and the invisible ghost residing in it leads her to the ghost trap, which she shows to Gary and her new friend, "Podcast". Gary, a fan of the Ghostbusters, helps her learn more about them and her grandfather. He, Phoebe and Podcast tamper with the trap, releasing Vinz Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer the Gozerian, who escapes to the mine. The farm ghost leads Phoebe to Egon's underground laboratory and, after revealing himself as her grandfather, guides her in restoring the Ghostbusters' equipment.

While testing the proton pack with Podcast, Phoebe finds a ghost they call "Muncher" that haunts Shandor's foundry and flees to town. Having repaired the Ghostbusters' Ecto-1's engine with Egon's help, Trevor uses the car to chase Muncher with the duo; they capture him but are arrested for the damage incurred and their equipment is seized. Using the Ghostbusters' telephone number that she had written down, Phoebe contacts Ray Stantz for help, informing him of Egon's death. In turn, Ray tells her what became of the Ghostbusters following Vigo the Carpathian's defeat – the team had disbanded following a downturn in business and Egon then moved to Summerville with all their equipment to pursue an unspecified threat.

Shortly after, Gary is attacked and possessed by Vinz after returning the children home following a date with Callie. Egon leads Callie to a wall of detailed notes and pictures he kept of her life, showing he cared about her more than she thought. Soon after, she becomes possessed by Zuul, Gatekeeper of Gozer. Phoebe, Podcast, Lucky and Trevor find a Gozerian temple within the mine. Exploring further, they discover the long-deceased Shandor beginning to revive in his casket as automated proton cannons, installed by Egon, hinder Gozer's attempts to cross over. Vinz sabotages the cannons and performs a mating rite with Zuul, allowing Gozer to escape and take physical form. Shandor awakens and pledges his fealty to Gozer, but she immediately murders him.

Cast

The new film's cast was announced in July 2019, with the cast of the original film signing on two months later:

Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler

Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler

Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler

Bokeem Woodbine as Sherman Domingo, the sheriff of Summerville

Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson

Logan Kim as Podcast

Celeste O'Connor as Lucky Domingo, a friend of Trevor's and Sheriff Domingo's daughter

Bill Murray as Peter Venkman

Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz

Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore

Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz

Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett

The film's cast additionally includes Marlon Kazadi as Thickneck; Sydney Mae Diaz as Swayze; and Aykroyd's youngest daughter Stella as Deputy Medjuck, a nod to Joe Medjuck, who was an associate producer on Ghostbusters (1984), an executive producer on the subsequent films and a co-founder of production company Ghost Corps. Harold Ramis posthumously appears as Egon Spengler in archived clips and photographs taken from Ghostbusters (1984). Bob Gunton (credited as "The Ghost Farmer") additionally portrayed living and ghostly versions of Egon, using prosthetics and digital makeup respectively, with Ivan Reitman standing in for the latter in some shots. J. K. Simmons portrayed Ivo Shandor, the leader of a Gozer-worshiping cult responsible for Gozer's presences in the modern world. Simmons took the role as a token of friendship with the Reitmans, with whom he frequently collaborates in films like Jason's Juno and Father Figures, co-produced by Ivan. Olivia Wilde, who portrayed Mesopotamian deity Inanna in Ramis' final film Year One, physically portrayed Gozer, previously portrayed by Slavitza Jovan and Paddi Edwards in voice in the original film, with Shohreh Aghdashloo providing the character's voice and Emma Portner portraying her spiritual form. Josh Gad was one of many actors who contributed to the voice of Muncher, a metal-eating ghost of a miner conjured after a séance went wrong at Summerville's local foundry in the 1940s. Ira Heiden (a friend of Jason Reitman's), Sarah Natochenny and Shelby Young provided the vocal effects of the Mini-Pufts, miniature doppelgängers of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but were not credited for their performances.

Production

Development

In the early 1990s, following the release of Ghostbusters II, Dan Aykroyd wrote a script for a third Ghostbusters film tentatively titled Ghostbusters III: Hellbent. In the script, the Ghostbusters are transported to a parallel-universe version of Manhattan called Manhellton, where the people and places are "hellish" versions of Earth, and the characters meet and confront the Devil. At the time, Aykroyd stated that Columbia Pictures was interested, though the principal actors, especially Bill Murray, were not. The Hellbent script's main characters are a new, younger group of Ghostbusters; Ray, Egon and Winston struggle to keep the business going after Peter's relationship with Dana becomes serious. Elements of this story were used in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009), which Aykroyd considered to be "essentially the third movie". At various stages of its development, Chris Farley, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller were reported as potential stars of a new Ghostbusters film.

By 2004, Columbia had begun pursuing a sequel but Murray, who disliked sequels, was uninterested in the project. The following year, Harold Ramis confirmed plans to introduce Stiller into the principal cast. By 2009, the project had failed to progress, but by January 2010, Ivan Reitman, director of the first two Ghostbusters films, confirmed he would direct a third one. Also in March, Murray discussed development of the film and his mixed feelings about reprising his role. A release was scheduled for Christmas 2012. That October, Aykroyd commented on the screenplay written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, stating that he was particularly impressed with the writing of Murray's character and the implementation of the new team with the original while he and Ramis worked on a second draft of the script.

By August 2011, Aykroyd stated that filming was scheduled to begin later that year with a story focused on passing the Ghostbusters mantle to the younger actors. When Murray decided against reprising his role, Aykroyd said another actor might replace him. Aykroyd also said he wanted retired actor Rick Moranis to return as Louis Tully. By February 2012, the film was placed on hold as the production team re-evaluated the project. Without Murray, the studio searched for replacement actors and considered including his character as a CGI-rendered ghost. In June, Murray again acknowledged all involved were attempting to develop the third film before dropping out of the film the following month. In July, Aykroyd confirmed the film was back in development with a script re-write from Etan Cohen. Aykroyd said of the script: "It's got to be perfect. That's the whole thing. There's no point in doing it unless it's perfect. So that's what we're up to now." By September, Reitman announced the developments of a remake. In May 2013, Aykroyd discussed plot points including real experiments being done by college students at Columbia University as a source of inspiration. The plot would revolve around research being done by the university, which would bring about threats from other dimensions. A new team of Ghostbusters would form to save Earth's plane of existence from supernatural threats. The script reportedly included Murray's character with hopes Murray would decide to join the production.

Casting

The castings of Mckenna Grace as the young female protagonist, Finn Wolfhard as her brother, and Carrie Coon as their single mother were revealed in March 2019. Reitman described Grace as an avid fan of the series and a perfect fit for his concept of a teenage female Ghostbuster. Wolfhard, who had dressed as a Ghostbuster while in character as Mike Wheeler during the second season of Stranger Things, was unsure he would get the role, saying that "Jason Reitman is probably not even going to look at my tape" because of that. Paul Rudd was cast in the film in June, later confirming his role of Mr. Grooberson, the children's new teacher who knows of the Ghostbusters' legacy. Rudd himself had worked with Harold Ramis in an uncredited role for his final film Year One.

Newcomers Celeste O'Connor and Logan Kim were cast in July. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts were confirmed to be reprising their roles from the first two Ghostbusters films. Rick Moranis, who also appeared in the first two Ghostbusters films, did not return to reprise his role in the film.

Design

Reitman shot on location and relied on practical effect as much as possible to maintain stylistic continuity with the original films. The Spengler farmhouse was a practical set built on a ridge that recalled the Psycho house. An old barn was relocated and reconstructed piece-by-piece on location for the unveiling of Ecto-1. Two Ectomobiles were used during filming. While the vehicles were vintage 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Sentinels, modern performance engines and suspension upgrades were required to complete the stunt sequences which were filmed on real city streets.

Reitman and the production crew reviewed the designs of the original film's ghosts and other supernatural creatures for use in Afterlife, observing the designs looked different from each other and were distinct. The creature known as "Muncher", co-created by creature designer Brynn Metheney, is similar to Slimer; Reitman explained: "Something happened to Slimer over the years that people started thinking of him as the dalmatian of the firehouse. The original Slimer was an angry dude and very scary and we wanted to get back to that", and Metheney wanted to make Muncher whom "the audience can latch on to" easily, giving him a universal appeal of him being "funny and cool and cute and weird in every way" like Slimer yet completely new and different from his green predecessor. Though the film did not reveal Muncher's origin, Metheney's character personality reveals that the ghost in life was a miner "conjured into existence by a séance gone wrong in the 1940s" at Summerville Foundry's supervisor's office and he has haunted the plant ever since then, "after terrorizing the group that contacted him". Her most ambitious design was the Mini-Pufts; she wanted to give them a realistic look on scale and texture of authentic marshmallows than the colossal Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and even bought packages of them to make tiny marshmallow men for visual reference. For the scenes of Summerville Crossrip, Metheney created the "flaming phantasms" that chase a firetruck and pedestrians outside the Spinners Roller Hop and included the animated series The Real Ghostbusters' popular three-eye ghost Bug-Eye in homage to the show. Other apparition concepts that did not make the final cut include a rancher ghost, Louise the crossing guard ghost of Summerville Middle School, possessed balloons and sandwiches, and more miner ghosts (Dynamite, Pick Axe, Lunchbox, Coats, and Shovel) after Muncher. Creature effects designer Arjen Tuiten, who is a fan of the first film's special effects artist Steve Johnson, personally created the "Old Miner Ghost" in resemblance to his idol's "Zombie Taxi Ghost" without Metheney's involvement.

Egon's Aztec Death Whistle was designed by Landon Lott under Jason Reitman's instruction, and despite the claim in the film that whistles like it are "designed to ward off evil spirits", their actual purpose remains unclear.

Filming

Principal photography began on July 12, 2019, under the working title Rust City, in and around Calgary, Alberta, and lasted until October. Location filming occurred in surrounding communities such as Crossfield, Beiseker, Drumheller and Fort Macleod (Muncher chase scene) during July and August. Other locations around Alberta were also used. Filming wrapped on October 18.

Music

The score for Ghostbusters: Afterlife was composed by Rob Simonsen and conducted by William Ross and Anthony Parnther. Simonsen studied Elmer Bernstein's score for the first Ghostbusters film and recruited Bernstein's son Peter, who guided the orchestration of Simonsen's score and the use of material from Ghostbusters (1984), as a score consultant. Simonsen used the ondes martenot throughout the score, which was played by Cynthia Millar, who played the same instrument on Bernstein's 1984 Ghostbusters score. The soundtrack was released on Compact Disc on November 19, 2021.

The songs "Ghostbusters", which was performed by Ray Parker Jr., and "Haunted House", which was written and performed by Mckenna Grace are heard during the film's end credits. The songs "The Clapping Song" by Shirley Ellis, "Baby It's You" by The Shirelles, "Can You Get to That" by Funkadelic, "Boredom" by Buzzcocks, "All Your Love (I Miss Loving)" by Otis Rush, "Muddy Water" by The Delmore Brothers, "Wait a Minute Girl" by The Newday, "Foolish Try" by Kelly's Lot, and "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson are used in the film.

Release

Theatrical

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on July 10, 2020, by Sony Pictures Releasing but its release was postponed to March 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sony pushed the film to June 11, 2021, then later shifted the release to November 11, 2021. The film's release was again postponed to November 19. The film was dedicated to Ramis and executive producer Tom Pollock (who died shortly before its completion), and the former is commemorated before its closing credits.

The film was given a surprise screening on August 23 during the 2021 CinemaCon event in Las Vegas; and another for fans at the 2021 New York Comic Con.

Marketing

In August 2019, toy manufacturer and multimedia company Hasbro obtained the master toy license for the Ghostbusters franchise, with the new products (including action figures and role-play items) originally scheduled to be released in stores in April 2020. Because of the pandemic delays to the film's release date, the introduction of Ghostbusters: Afterlife toys to market was also delayed. Target received exclusive versions of some toys ahead of the projected June 2021 release date, but further rollouts were held back when the studio announced an additional delay until November. A new line of Hasbro action figures based on the film was unveiled on the same day the second trailer debuted. It included several characters and costumes that had not been seen in any promotional material for the film before. In November, Zaxby's promoted the film with a commercial featuring Ghostbusters: Afterlife's Mini-Pufts.

Home media

Following the film's theatrical screenings, it was released digitally on January 4, 2022, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 1 in North America.

After its digital release on PVOD services, the film acquired the top position on iTunes and Vudu, while being placed second on Google Play. Overall, it spent four weeks at the top position on iTunes and Vudu, while spending five weeks at the top rank on Google Play. The film debuted at the second position on Redbox's digital chart. It was the top-selling digital title on "Redbox On Demand" for four consecutive weeks.

After debuting on disc, it acquired the top position on the "NPD VideoScan First Alert" chart which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray sales. It sold 285,642 units overall for $5.3 million. It maintained its position in the overall sales for the following week, while being displaced from the top position in the Blu-ray sales by Encanto. It was also the most-rented film from Redbox kiosks for three consecutive weeks. The film was the highest-selling title for February according to the "NPD VideoScan First Alert" chart.

In April 2021, Sony signed a deal with Disney giving them access to their legacy content, including past Ghostbusters films, including Ghostbusters: Afterlife to stream on Disney+ and Hulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks. Disney's access to Sony's titles would come following their availability on Netflix.

Reception

Box office

Ghostbusters: Afterlife grossed $129.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $75 million in other territories, grossing $204.3 million worldwide. Scott Mendelson of Forbes described the film's theatrical run as "relatively successful" and said it was "made cheaply enough to be a hit".

In the United States and Canada, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was released alongside King Richard, and earned $16.6 million on its first day—including $4.5 million from Thursday night previews, $1 million more than the 2016 film. The film debuted to revenues of $44 million, topping the box office. It made $5.3 million on Thanksgiving and $24.2 million in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Encanto.

In its third weekend, the film earned $10.35 million and exceeded $100 million in the U.S. and Canada. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to third place at the box office and earned $7.1 million. It made $3.4 million in its fifth weekend, placing fourth, and $1.2 million in its sixth, finishing eleventh. The film returned to the box-office top ten in its seventh weekend, earning $1.5 million and finishing seventh. In its eighth weekend, the film made $1.1 million and finished eighth. The film returned to the box office top ten in its eleventh weekend, earning $776,451 and finishing eighth.

Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore said Ghostbusters: Afterlife opened to a "really solid number" that showed the "brand is really powerful even some 37 years after the original became a cultural phenomenon". The Associated Press noted the "crucial difference" between this film and the 2016 reboot is that Ghostbusters: Afterlife "cost about half as much to make". Variety described the film's opening weekend box office as "stronger than expected" and "an important victory for the studio after it failed in 2016 to revive the decades-old series".

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 309 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife crosses the streams between franchise revival and exercise in nostalgia – and this time around, the bustin' mostly feels good." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100 based on 47 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 82% positive score, and 69% said they would recommend it.

Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter described the film's cast as "engaging" and "[having] the comic beats down", and added that "they also play more fully fleshed people than the first film offered, reflecting the director's interest in character-driven stories". She also noted some similarities between the film and Stranger Things, The Wizard of Oz and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Olly Richards of Empire gave the film a score of four out of five, describing it as "thoroughly lovely" and saying it "firmly establishes its own new generation" while being "full of love for the originals". Peter Debruge of Variety described it as an "unnecessary but enjoyable movie", and added, "The good news for Ghostbusters fans is that Afterlife does nothing to tarnish what has come before".

William Bibbiani of TheWrap commented that Ghostbusters: Afterlife will probably satisfy fans of Ghostbusters (1984)—particularly those who like finding Easter eggs—but might disappoint viewers who want it to offer something different; but these could still enjoy the film's "slick and straightforward, formulaic craftsmanship". Scott Mendelson of Forbes gave the film a score of 6 out of 10, describing it as a "charming and witty kid-centric coming-of-age fantasy", but criticized its reliance on "pandering" nostalgic fanservice. Kyle Smith of National Review described the film as "a winsome, endearing summer movie for November, a cunningly engineered generational bridge". The Guardian critic Charles Bramesco gave it one out of five, finding it lacks the humor of Ghostbusters (1984) and instead resembles an "Amblin knockoff" that is similar to the television series Stranger Things. Bramensco concluded it is "a nostalgia object, drained of personality and fitted into a dully palatable mold, custom-made for a fandom that worships everything and respects nothing".

Franchise

Sequel

Aykroyd has expressed interest in having the surviving cast members of the original Ghostbusters film reprise their roles in up to three sequels. On the possibility of sequels, David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said the box-office results were "excellent" and would "encourage Sony to forge ahead with new installments". In April 2022, a sequel was confirmed to be in early development and it would return to New York City as with prior installments. Grace reprises her role, as well as Logan Kim, Celeste O’Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts.

In December, Gil Kenan took over as director from Reitman, who remains a writer and producer. Rudd, Wolfhard, and Coon were also confirmed to reprise their roles alongside Grace. On March 20, 2023, a photo of Reitman and Kenan was posted to the Ghostbusters Facebook page showing them on the set of the new movie, with the working title Firehouse. The film was released on March 22, 2024.

Upcoming animated film

A separate animated film from Sony Pictures Animation was also announced to be in development, to be directed by Chris Prynoski and Jennifer Kluska, and written by Brenda Hsueh.