After returning to the big screen in 2021 with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the beloved franchise is set to continue this new generation story with a sequel arriving later this year. Sony addressed the upcoming (and still untitled) sequel during its CinemaCon presentation on Monday night. While there wasn’t any footage revealed, those in attendance did get the chance to see the new Ghostbusters team in their official flightsuits, standing with the Ecto-1 inside the iconic firehouse garage.
The look at the new Ghostbusters that Sony shared on Monday featured stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and McKenna Grace donning the Ghostbusters flightsuits, showing them off as the newest team in the franchise. ComicBook.com was on-hand to check out the new Ghostbusters news, and we’re keeping track of all of Sony’s CinemaCon updates here.
Sony also confirmed the release date: December 20th, 2023.
Gil Kenan, who wrote Afterlife with Reitman and directed 2006’s animated Monster House and the 2015 Poltergeist reboot, is directing and executive producing the fourquel he co-wrote with Reitman. Sony’s Ghost Corps banner, which was formed in 2015 with a focus on expanding the Ghostbusters brand, is producing with Reitman’s Right of Way Films for Columbia Pictures.
The late Egon Spengler’s (Harold Ramis) daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) and his grandchildren Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) are back after thwarting an old supernatural threat in haunted Summerville, Oklahoma, with the help of seismologist Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and friends Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O’Connor). Afterlife also reunited the surviving Ghostbusters: Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).
Along with Hudson returning as Ghostbusters benefactor and Zeddemore Industries CEO, William Atherton reprises his role as dick-less EPA inspector Walter Peck from 1984’s Ghostbusters. New additions to the cast include Marvel’s Eternals stars Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt, comedian James Acaster, and Gossip Girl‘s Emily Alyn Lind.
“A few years ago, my father handed me the keys to Ecto-1 and together we made Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Words will never express how grateful I am to have made a film with my father by my side,” Reitman said when announcing Kenan as director. ” It’s now time to hand those keys to my creative partner and fellow Ghostbuster Gil Kenan, a brilliant director who will keep the Spengler spirit alive. I can only hope to provide him the same producorial care and support that my father showed me.”
Along with the live-action sequel, Sony is developing the previously announced animated Ghostbusters feature from Sony Pictures Animation — the studio behind the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and the upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — and Reitman and Kenan’s Ghostbusters animated series that will air on Netflix as part of an expanding Ghostbusters Universe.