While some may never have doubted it, the writer behind the latest Ghostbusters film confirmed that there are active discussions about telling more stories in the franchise on the big screen.
Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire followed the Spengler Family (led by an incredible cast including Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon) as they moved to New York City and took on the apocalyptic threat of Garraka, a demonic spirit who threatened to freeze the entire world.
The movie was released in March of this year and received a lukewarm reception. It earned roughly $201 million worldwide at the box office against its reported production budget of $100 million.
More Ghostbusters Films Are on the Way
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim, while promoting his new movie Saturday Night, Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan confirmed that there will be more films in the iconic franchise.
"We definitely are continuing the conversation of telling big Ghostbuster stories on the big screen," Kenan assured:
"The answer is yes, Jason [Reitman]... we take the responsibility and the joy of being the keepers of the flame of 'Ghostbusters' very seriously... we definitely are continuing the conversation of telling big 'Ghostbuster' stories on the big screen. And stay tuned. There'll be more. There'll be more about that later."
The director and writer also made sure to plug the recently announced animated Ghostbusters series on Netflix, which he is actively working on with Jason Reitman.
He further teased that the show will "intersect with the Ghostbusters stories" that everyone loves:
"And I've spoken recently about the fact that we are in very active development on our animated series that we're producing with Netflix. That is something that I'm actively involved with, Jason on a day-to-day basis right now, we are really excited about the stories that are starting to be told there, and the way that it intersects with the Ghostbusters stories that you and I love is going to be thrilling for our audiences."
What Can Fans Expect From the Next Ghostbusters Sequel?
Another Ghostbusters movie could go one of two ways.
It could continue the story of the Spengler family and officially position them as the faces of the franchise now. After all, it could be good to leave the OG cast members out of the next installment and just focus on the new blood.
Many fans have been clamoring for the series to shift away from the nostalgic angles it's been clinging to for some time now and really embrace something new and fresh.
This leads to the other possible approach: a new soft launch for the franchise. It would not be a full reboot, but once again, the story would be shifted to a new cast of characters, locations, and circumstances.
The upcoming Netflix animated series could be the first step in that process as well. Perhaps that might even be a direct lead-in to whatever Sony Pictures wants to do onscreen next.
As of writing, Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire is streaming on Netflix.
