Directed by
Jason Reitman,
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is proving to be the miracle creation the franchise needed to rise again 30 years after
Ghostbusters 2 hit the theaters. But what next? Apart from being a rousing success (and earning close to $200 million at the box office), the film has teased storylines, possible arcs, and raised questions that can only be answered by
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2. So, what is does the future of the franchise look like?
Here is everything we know about
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2.
Has The Sequel Been Greenlit?
Not yet, but given the largely positive response
Ghostbusters: Afterlife has garnered as well as its impressive box office collection, it is highly unlikely that
Sony Pictures will say yes to a sequel. Also, both Reitman and many from the film’s cast have shared their willingness to return for
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2.
What further heightens the chances of the sequel being greenlit is a major producing deal Sony has signed with
Ghostbusters: Afterlife co-writers Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, according to
Deadline. Sanford Panitch, President, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, has called Reitman “a world-class, signature storyteller” and a “visionary filmmaker.” They are now looking forward to many films from the duo that are already in the pipeline. Sony’s complete trust in Reitman and Kenan, as well as this deal, paints a hopeful future for
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2.
The Mystery Plot Of Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2
Sony Pictures may take its sweet time to make
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2 official but John Reitman has revealed that he already has many plans for the sequel’s storyline. In an interview with
Uproxx, the director was questioned about the changing Ghostbusters’ logo on the Ecto-1. In
Ghostbusters II the logo is a ghost holding up two fingers but in
Afterlife, it reverts to how the logo was in the original
Ghostbusters film wherein the ghost is only holding up one finger. This hints that Egon changed the logo sometime after the events of
Ghostbusters II.
Apparently, this was not a mistake and was actually a planned plotline that was not covered in the film. Reitman has shared that he plans to cover this question as well as many other ideas in a potential sequel.Vigo the Carpathian
Reitman has also revealed that after bringing back Gozer the Gozerian, he plans on revisiting the franchise’s best villain i.e., Vigo the Carpathian in
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2. During his appearance on the
Happy Sad Confused podcast, Reitman teased that the sequel may see the comeback of Vigo, the major force of evil in the 1989 sequel,
Ghostbusters II.
By the end of the film, the sinister painting of Vigo had vanished and replaced with the one symbolizing the four Ghostbusters protecting baby Oscar. But according to Reitman, there is a “lot of time and opportunity for Vigo The Carpathian to make his return.” In case the director does bring Vigo back, he plans on basing his return on the fact that his painting in
Ghostbusters II was not the only one. “Maybe, he’s riding a horse in another one, maybe, impaling someone in another one,” he explained.
The Cast Of Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2
Ghostbusters: Afterlife introduced new cast members like Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler, Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler, Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler, and
Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson. It also brought back original cast members Bill Murray as Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Raymond “Ray” Stantz, Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore, Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, and Annie Potts as Janine Malnitz. While the new additions are yet to voice their opinion on
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2, two actors from the original cast have expressed their willingness to reprise their respective roles in a sequel.
In a chat with
USA Today, Dan Aykroyd had shared that he wants his character Ray and Bill Murray’s Peter to be killed in the next film and join the ghost of Egon Spengler in guiding the new Ghostbusters. And even if they don’t die, he wants the original Ghostbusters to be present in the next three sequels. Speaking to
RadioTimes, Ernie Hudson has also expressed his desire to return for
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2 and confirmed that given the note on which the third film ended, his character’s inclusion in “what comes next” is definitely confirmed.
