Credit: Sony PicturesFrozen Empire director Gil Kenan has spoken up about the next Ghostbusters movie.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) is currently busy catching millions at the global box office, having so far pulled $61.4M into its Ghost Trap (during opening weekend) against its $100M budget. That’s not a bad start for the latest sequel in the long-running film series — if this trajectory continues, then Sony Pictures will undoubtedly greenlight another sequel.
The previous film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), grossed over $204.3 million worldwide, but Frozen Empire is expected to perform higher seeing as it has $25M on Afterlife‘s budget. But so confident are the filmmakers — director/writer Gil Kenan and producer/writer Jason Reitman — that they have already laid the groundwork for another Ghostbusters movie.
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It’s well known that early production on Frozen Empire started before Afterlife even hit theaters in 2021, so it’s unsurprising that Kenan and Reitman are already making plans for a third film (which would be, in fact, the fifth film in the canon series but the sixth film overall when you include Paul Feig’s 2016 reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call).
Frozen Empire boasts the biggest Ghostbusting team yet — Phoebe Spengler (McKenna Grace), Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard), Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), Podcast (Logan Kim), Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor), and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).
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The film sees the New York City-based crew discover a new supernatural villain named Garraka, a horned entity who threatens to plunge the Big Apple into an eternal winter by using an army of ghosts to do his bidding. Unsurprisingly, several familiar ghosts are back in the fold, including Slimer, the Librarian Ghost, and the Mini-Pufts from Afterlife.
With the film only four days into its theatrical run, we won’t get into specific spoilers, but there is a mid-credits scene unrelated to the plot that we’ll discuss, as director Gil Kenan recently offered Entertainment Weekly (EW) an explanation behind it. So, here is your official spoiler warning for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire‘s mid-credits scene.
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Beyond the confines of New York City, we see a trucker using a vending machine at a gas station when his large vehicle starts to drive off by itself. As the truck moves across the screen, we see the words “Stay Puft Marshmallows” written on the side. And driving the truck are the Mini-Pufts; the tiny versions of the iconic Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
While this seems like nothing more than a tiny gag, according to Kenan, who has already hinted at more sequels beyond the new film, this scene sets up a future Ghostbusters story. “Jason [Reitman] and I definitely have a story up our sleeves that continues that narrative thread,” he told EW. “There’s more trouble where that came from. Nothing we can talk about yet, but it feels like those guys [the Mini-Pufts] have way more story to tell.”
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“Plus, it’s always fun to work with the magnificently murderous marshmallows,” he later joked. “I love those guys; they’re so fun to direct. [They’re] primadonnas. Their rider is impossible, but it’s worth it for what they do onscreen.”
On a more serious note, Kenan adds, “In terms of where else this goes, look, we really care about the characters in this film. We feel like there is more story to be told. And I’m really hoping audiences connect with the adventure that the Spengler family goes on in this film. And if they do, then I really hope that we can continue this story.”
But it’s possible Kenan isn’t even referring to a future film — there’s a brand-new comic book series titled Ghostbusters: Back in Town (2024), which bridges the gap between Afterlife and Frozen Empire, hitting shelves on March 27, and there’s also a Ghostbusters animated movie and an animated series in production, which will stream on Netflix in the near future.
Frozen Empire
Check out the trailer for Frozen Empire below, per Sony Pictures:
Frozen Empire stars Carrie Coon (Callie Spengler), Paul Rudd (Gary Grooberson), McKenna Grace (Phoebe Spengler), Finn Wolfhard (Trevor Spengler), Celeste O’Connor (Lucky Domingo), Logan Kim (Podcast), Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz), Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz), William Atherton (Walter Peck), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore), Bill Murray (Peter Venkman), James Acaster (Lars Pinfield), Patton Oswalt (Dr. Hubert Wartzki), Kumail Nanjiani (Nadeem Razmaadi), and Emily Alyn Lind (Melody).
The film is now showing in theaters worldwide.
Beyond Frozen Empire
Ghostbusters is expected to return to Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights 2024, having last appeared for the event at Hollywood and Orlando in 2019. Orlando previously hosted Ghostbusters Spooktacular (1990 – 1996), Extreme Ghostbusters: The Great Fight Way (2002 – 2005), and StreetBusters (1991 – 1993).
In addition to movies, animated shows, and comic books, there are plenty of Ghostbusters video games to enjoy, too, from Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed (2022) to the virtual reality (VR) experience Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord (2023).
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the 1984 film, which, in celebration, is returning to theaters in front of a live orchestra.
Would you like to see another Ghostbusters movie after Frozen Empire? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!