'Ghostbusters: Afterlife': Jason Reitman Comments On Future Installments

No one seems more determined to will their franchise into being than Ivan Reitman and his Ghost Corps. company. “Ghostbusters 3” with the original cast was in development for years, a Chris Pratt/Channing Tatum/Russo Brothers version was on the table for a while, but they all fell by the wayside inevitably, making way for Paul Feig’s female-led” Ghostbusters” (“Ghostbusters: Answer The Call,” in some markets).  While that film flopped for several reasons, toxic fandom being one of them, Ghost Corps.’ second attempt to resurrect “Ghostbusters” for a new generation of audiences, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” is almost here. Reviews are out from New York Comic-Con today, and so far, they are mainly positive (the film has an 88% fresh score on RT as of now with 16 reviews)

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Whereas Feig’s was basically set in a new continuity, the new film ‘Afterlife’ is more of a long-belated sequel to “Ghostbusters 2.” It focuses on a new group of youngsters led by Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things“) and McKenna Grace (“Captain Marvel“) as the grandchildren of Harold Ramis‘ Egon Spengler which seems more geared towards fans as it will link directly to the first two films with original cast members returning in their original roles too.

Whike we wait for a greater sampling to emerge on the new film, on Friday, ‘Afterlife’ director and co-writer Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up In The Air“) spoke at New York Comic-Con for the “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” panel (via THR) about his dreams for the franchise going forward. Essentially, Retiman hopes ‘Afterlife’ will open the door for many more “Ghostbusters” films and for the universe to properly expand as Ghost Corps has been wishing so for years.

“We wanted to make a movie that opened the universe to all kinds of stories. I want to see ‘Ghostbusters’ movies from all of my favorite directors and I hope this movie sets the table for them,” Reitman said of future installments.

READ MORE:Bill Murray Was Reluctant To Return For The New ‘Ghostbusters’ But Says Sequel “Brings It Back To Life”

Whether “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” does well enough or not will determine that, but obviously we don’t know that answer yet. The filmmaker also weighed in on the streaming vs theatrical debate when asked why they pursued a theatrical-only release.

“I love streaming as much as anybody else, it certainly got me through the pandemic. But I love movies, we wanted to make a movie that would be enjoyed like this with an incredible audience, popcorn, and great sound. We wanted to make a movie that could be enjoyed like this. The way you experienced the movie in ’84.” 

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The studio is releasing ‘Afterlife’ on November 19 and we’ll keep an eye on that box office cume to see if audiences really want to see more “Ghostbusters” or not.