6
Credit: Sony PicturesThe Ghostbusters franchise has been a defining presence in supernatural comedy for over four decades. Starting with Ivan Reitman’s original 1984 film, the series quickly established a unique blend of humor, horror, and memorable characters, including Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and spooky ghosts such as Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Its sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989), expanded the mythology while keeping the same cast, although reception was mixed. In recent years, we’ve had three films: Paul Feig’s 2016 female-led reboot, which remains the most divisive entry, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), both of which are sequels to the first two films.
A Sixth Ghostbusters Movie Is in the Works
Now, according to original star and co-creator Dan Aykroyd, another Ghostbusters movie is in the works. Speaking on the Talking Strange podcast (via Screen Crush), Aykroyd confirmed that there will be a new film, saying ,“We’ll see what we do as far as the next Ghostbusters feature, and there will be one. It’s just what avenue we’re going to take.”
While the next film will likely follow Frozen Empire and bring back the likes of McKenna Grace (Phoebe Spengler), Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson), and Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard), it may also see the return of characters from the widely hated 2016 reboot, which divided fans when it was released and consequently had a disappointing box-office run.
Could the 2016 Female Ghostbusters Return?
As unlikely as that may seem, Multiverses continue to trend across film and television, so seeing Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig), Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) show up in the main Ghostbusters timeline isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
It’s also worth noting that the Answer the Call crew even had their own comic book under IDW as part of the publisher’s primary Ghostbusters run.
With all that said, there might be too much bad blood between fans and the 2016 film. Not only that, but when it was announced that Sony would be reinstating the original films’ timeline with Afterlife, actress Leslie Jones criticized Jason Reitman, son of the original director, who directed/co-wrote the 2021 film and co-produced/co-wrote Frozen Empire.
In his interview, Aykroyd confirmed that Reitman is attached to the new film, as he remains involved through Ghost Corps, the production company responsible for managing the franchise’s current creative direction. “Jason is working with the creative crew there at Ghost Corps out there in Los Angeles,” he said. “And I’ll be very interested to see what emerges.”
Ghostbusters Animated Projects Get an Update
Aykroyd also indicated that thematic elements in the new film may explore darker aspects of human behavior, similar to how Ghostbusters II‘s plot revolved around negative emotions.
“I think that, given creative people in the world we’re living in today, how can you not factor in some of what we’re looking at in terms of the human species’ execrable behavior? That may be looked at. Maybe it manifests itself in some kind of an evil formation.”
He also touched upon the Netflix animated feature. “We are doing a really neat animated Ghostbusters. It’ll be coming out quite soon. The characters and the whole take and the look of Manhattan is really exciting. So, I think maybe there’s an opportunity there for those writers to address some of the issues that we need to heal and move on with our lives.”
Previously, it was confirmed that there would be an animated film and a television series.
Are you excited about all the upcoming Ghostbusters content? What do you hope to see in this reboot? Let us know in the comments!