Ghostbusters: Afterlife Is “What the Fans Have Been Hoping For,” Says Ernie Hudson

Ghostbusters: Afterlife scares up the third movie “fans have been hoping for,” according to returning Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson. A 30-years-later continuation of Ivan Reitman’s original 1984 supernatural comedy and 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II, the new movie from director Jason Reitman reunites Winston Zeddemore (Hudson) with Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) to make something “very, very special.” Answering the call with the founding Ghostbusters are franchise favorites Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) and Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), appearing alongside a new cast of characters with mysterious familial connections to the late Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis).

“There have been so many announcements and so many things that fell apart. It wasn’t until I got the script and read the script that I thought, ‘Not only is it happening, but this is really good,’” Hudson told Yes Have Some. “It’s really in line with what the fans have been hoping for, and it really ties into the first two movies.”

“I like the movie with the ladies, but it was kind of a different take on it,” he added of the female-led reboot directed by Paul Feig. “So once I got the [Afterlife] script I began to get excited about it and felt like I knew something definite. But up until then, it was still ‘if, maybe, and whatever.’”

Iterations of Ghostbusters 3 have languished in development hell since the 1990s, including versions that would have reunited the four founding Ghostbusters under director Ivan Reitman. Years later, reprising Winston opposite Aykroyd and Murray became “kind of a spiritual get together” for the 74-year-old Hudson.

“A movie that had so much impact and meaning in my life, to go back into that was just emotional to me,” he said. “To see Danny Aykroyd and Bill, it was very, very special.”

Anchoring Afterlife is a fresh crop of characters, including single mother Callie (Carrie Coon) and her two children, gearhead son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and science whiz daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace). When they notice something strange in their neighborhood of Summerville, Oklahoma, the kids team with seismologist and summer school teacher Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) to investigate the paranormal happenings.

“It’s a great new cast” who are all “bringing their best to it, and I think bringing what [Ghostbusters] deserved,” Hudson said. “Not something that sort of was thrown together just for the studio to make some more money. But really, Jason’s just love of it and commitment to it, I was very touched by it.”

The new movie was to open July 10 but was delayed until next year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Sony Pictures now releases Ghostbusters: Afterlife into theaters on March 5, 2021.