Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Star Annie Potts Reveals How Script Was Changed to Let Janine Suit Up

After 40 years, Annie Potts is answering the call as a Ghostbuster. A just-revealed new look at Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire shows Potts’ receptionist-turned-‘buster Janine Melnitz suiting up alongside original Ghostbusters Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) — filling out the foursome after the death of Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis). But according to Potts, director and co-writer Gil Kenan’s decision to have Janine suit up as a Ghostbuster came after the Afterlife sequel had already started shooting. 

“It’s a desperate situation, so it’s all hands on deck,” Potts told Empire Magazine. “It turns out Janine is quite capable – as most women tend to bewhen given the chance.”

Janine’s inclusion as a Ghostbuster “came as a real surprise,” said Potts, who has appeared in every Ghostbusters movie since the 1984 original. “We were weeks into shooting andGil came up to me and said, ‘We think it’s time…We’re gonna have you suit up.’”

“I have tosay I did [get a kick out of it]. Janine has served long and well, and Ifelt like she was finally getting her stripes, you know? She’s clearlystayed in touch with the guys [between Ghostbusters II and Frozen Empire],and she’s really been the keeper of the flame at the Firehouse,” she added. “TheGhostbusters are kind of superheroes, so it’s very nice to finally beseen in that way, too.”

That desperate situation is a spine-tingling cold front that chills the Empire State nearly to death. With the arrival of new villain Garraka comes the next generation of Ghostbusters: the Spenglers (Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace) and their allies,  Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Lucky (Celeste O’Connor), and Podcast (Logan Kim).

In Ghostbusters 4,the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic NewYork City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’vedeveloped a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the nextlevel. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evilforce, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their homeand save the world from a second Ice Age.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire now opens exclusively in theaters on March 22 after moving up from its original March 29 release date.