Credit: Sony PicturesNow that the release date for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) has been pushed forward by Sony Pictures, the film is just under two months away.
Frozen Empire is the fourth entry in the main series of Ghostbusters films (five when you include the 2016 reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call), acting as a direct sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) while bringing the franchise back to New York City.
Related: Sony Releases Brand-New ‘Ghostbusters’ Short Film Online
It sees the return of all the characters introduced in Afterlife — Phoebe (McKenna Grace), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), Lucky (Celeste O’Connor), Podcast (Logan Kim), Callie (Carrie Coon), and Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) — and legacy characters Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), and Walter Peck (William Atherton).
Afterlife director/writer Jason Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan are also back. This time, Reitman is co-writing/co-producing, while Kenan is in the director’s chair.
When a supernatural being named Garraka plunges New York into a “second Ice Age,” Ghostbusters old and new, who have taken shelter in the new-and-improved (but recently frozen) Firehouse, must team up to save the day.
Yesterday (January 28), the official @Ghostbusters X (formerly Twitter) account shared the below video which features a sneak peek at the second trailer:
Do you know what’s coming? #Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is exclusively in movie theaters March 22.
Do you know what's coming? #Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is exclusively in movie theaters March 22. pic.twitter.com/LREI7MmaYw
— Ghostbusters (@Ghostbusters) January 28, 2024
Now, the second official trailer for Frozen Empire is finally here, which was preceded by an epic countdown via a live stream on Ghostbusters’ YouTube channel.
Check it out below, per Sony Pictures:
Related: ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Sequel Gets New Trailer, Puts ‘Frozen Empire’ to Shame
It’s fair to say this new trailer is way more epic than the original one we got a few months ago. And though there are several returning characters who we’ve known about for quite some time, the trailer confirms the surprise return of the iconic Librarian Ghost from the original 1984 film (who’s also known as Eleanor Twitty in the wider franchise).
But she isn’t the only character who we last saw causing problems for the Ghostbusters in the original film — the trailer also confirms the return of Slimer and the equally-slimy Walter Peck (William Atherton), who hasn’t changed all that much.
Related: First Part of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Revealed
In fact, Peck says something that retcons the first film. “They called themselves ‘Ghostbusters,'” he tells the new team during what appears to a disciplinary hearing, referring, of course, to the OG gang (Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore. “According to these hacks, they saved the world. No eye witnesses.”
No eye witnesses, huh? How about the 112-and-a-half-foot Stay Puft Marshmallow Man that stomped through Columbus Circle? Or how about that time the Statue of Liberty came to life in the second film, Ghostbusters II (1989)?
That guy needs a nice fruit basket.
Check out the original trailer for Frozen Empire below, per Sony Pictures:
Per the website for the film, here’s the 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.
Frozen Empire stars Carrie Coon (Callie Spengler), Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson), McKenna Grace (Phoebe Spengler), Finn Wolfhard (Trevor Spengler), Celeste O’Connor (Lucky Domingo), Logan Kim (Podcast), Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz), Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), William Atherton (Walter Peck), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore), Bill Murray (Peter Venkman), James Acaster (Lars Pinfield), Patton Oswalt (Dr. Hubert Wartzki), Kumail Nanjiani (Nadeem Razmaadi), and Emily Alyn Lind in an undisclosed role.
The film will be released in theaters on March 22, 2024.
An upcoming four-issue comic book series titled Ghostbusters: Back in Town (2024) that bridges the gap between Afterlife and Frozen Empire will be released on March 27, 2024.
Are you excited about Frozen Empire? What do you think about this new trailer? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!