What are ya gonna call Ghostbusters 4? Sony Pictures scared up the teaser trailer for its Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel and revealed its official title: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Originally scheduled for December 20, the next Ghostbusters movie will instead haunt theaters on March 29, 2024, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the original 1984 supernatural comedy that starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver. Gil Kenan, who co-wrote Afterlife with Jason Reitman, takes over directing duties for the New York City-set follow-up reuniting cast members Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard.
The two-minute trailer (below) reveals a frozen Empire State, where the jumpsuit-clad Spengler clan — Callie (Coon), her kids Phoebe (Grace) and Trevor (Wolfhard), plus seismologist Gary Grooberson (Rudd) — have taken up bustin’ ghosts in the Ghostbusters Firehouse in New York City. (Afterlife ended with Hudson’s wealthy business man Winston Zeddemore returning to the Ghostbusters’ old haunt, where a blinking red light on the Ecto-Containment Unit suggested the escape of ghosts captured in The Manhattan Crossrip of 1984.)
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That means another visit from the OG Ghostbusters’ living nemesis: former Environmental Protection Agency Inspector Walter Peck (William Atherton). The sequel’s cast of characters includes original Ghostbusters Winston, Peter Venkman (Murray), and Ray Stantz (Aykroyd) — who still ain’t afraid of no ghosts — Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), and next-gen Ghostbusters Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O’Connor).
The official synopsis: “In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.”
“I’mexcited about this one,” Aykroyd, who also serves as executive producer via Ghost Corps, told Metro (via Ghostbusters News). “It’s got a beautiful, heartfelt story, a greatthreat, some scary moments, and it brings back Annie Potts and ErnieHudson, Bill Murray and myself, and we’ve handed the torch to newpeople: Finn Wolfhard and Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon.”
Along with this third sequel set in the original continuity of 1984’s Ghostbusters, Sony is developing the previously announced animated Ghostbusters feature from Sony Pictures Animation — the studio behind the blockbusters Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — and Reitman and Kenan’s Ghostbusters animated series for Netflix as part of the expanding Ghostbusters Universe.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire also stars Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, James Acaster, and Emily Alyn Lind, and is scheduled to open only in theaters on March 29, 2024.
