Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a 2021 American supernatural comedy film directed by Jason Reitman, and written by Reitman and Gil Kenan. It is the fourth installment in the Ghostbusters film series. The film stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Paul Rudd, with Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson reprising their characters from the earlier films. Set three decades after the events of Ghostbusters II (1989), it follows a single mother and her children who move to an Oklahoma farm they inherited from her estranged father Egon Spengler, a member of the original Ghostbusters.

A third main Ghostbusters film had been in development since the release of Ghostbusters II, but production stalled because Bill Murray had refused to return to the series. Following Harold Ramis' death in 2014, Sony Pictures produced a female-led reboot, which was released in 2016. In January 2019, it was announced that Reitman would direct a sequel to the original films, with the new cast being announced by July, while original cast members Potts, Hudson, Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Sigourney Weaver signed on two months later. Principal photography took place from July to October of that year.

After being delayed four times from an original July 2020 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was released in the United States on November 19 by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $204 million against a $75 million budget. A sequel, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, was released in 2024.

Plot

In Summerville, Oklahoma, Egon Spengler captures an entity in occultist Ivo Shandor's mine outside the town and lures another to his farm. He activates an elaborate setup on his property, but the power fails. Egon manages to conceal the ghost trap in his home before being attacked by the entity and suffering a fatal heart attack before the entity returns to the mine.

His estranged and financially struggling daughter Callie inherits the farm, moving there with her children, Trevor and Phoebe, after being evicted from their Chicago apartment. Trevor becomes infatuated with carhop Lucky Domingo and the scientifically minded Phoebe enrolls in a summer science class taught by seismologist Gary Grooberson, whom Callie later dates.

Phoebe discovers the farmhouse is haunted and the invisible ghost residing in it leads her to the ghost trap, which she shows to Gary and her new friend, "Podcast". Gary, a fan of the Ghostbusters, helps her learn more about them and her grandfather. He, Phoebe, and Podcast tamper with the trap, releasing Vinz Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer the Gozerian, who escapes to the mine. The farm ghost leads Phoebe to Egon's underground laboratory and, after revealing himself as her grandfather, guides her in restoring the Ghostbusters' equipment.

While testing the proton pack with Podcast, Phoebe finds a ghost they call "Muncher" that haunts Shandor's foundry and flees to town. Having repaired the Ghostbusters' Cadillac Ecto-1's engine (with Egon's help), Trevor uses the car to chase Muncher with the pair; they capture him but are arrested for the damage incurred, and their equipment is seized.

Using the Ghostbusters' telephone number that she had written down, Phoebe contacts Ray Stantz for help, informing him of Egon's death. In turn, Ray tells her what became of the Ghostbusters after they defeated Vigo the Carpathian: The team had disbanded following a downturn in business and Egon then stole all their equipment and moved to Summerville to pursue an unspecified threat.

Shortly after, Gary is attacked and possessed by Vinz after returning the children home following a date with Callie. Egon's ghost leads Callie to a wall of detailed notes and pictures he kept of her life, showing he cared about her more than she thought. Soon after, she becomes possessed by Zuul, Gatekeeper of Gozer.

Phoebe, Podcast, Lucky, and Trevor find a Gozerian temple within the mine. Exploring further, they discover the long-dead Shandor beginning to revive in his casket as automated proton cannons, installed by Egon, hinder Gozer's attempts to cross over. Vinz sabotages the cannons and performs a mating rite with Zuul, allowing Gozer to escape and take physical form. Shandor awakens and pledges his fealty to Gozer, but she immediately murders him.

The children discover Egon's "farm" is an array of ghost traps buried in a dirt field. As supernatural chaos rages through the town, they free Muncher and use him to recover the seized ghostbusting equipment and Ecto-1, then head to the mine. Phoebe distracts Gozer so Podcast can re-capture Zuul, freeing Callie and weakening Gozer's physical form. They lure Gozer and Vinz to the trap field, but it malfunctions as Zuul possesses Lucky when rescued, fully restoring Gozer's power.

Ray, along with Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore, arrive to help as Gozer, having orchestrated Egon's death, seeks to resume avenging her previous defeat. Supported by Egon's now-manifested ghost, Phoebe uses his proton pack to battle Gozer. The Ghostbusters assist by crossing their packs' proton streams while Trevor uses his to charge the traps' power source, allowing Callie to activate them and capture the villains. Lucky and Gary are freed from their possessions and Egon reconciles with his family and friends before passing on to the afterlife.

In a mid-credits scene, the original Ghostbusters return to NYC and Venkman is revealed to be married to Dana Barrett. In a post-credits scene, Winston, having become a wealthy entrepreneur and family man since leaving the Ghostbusters, returns the fully restored Ecto-1 to the team's old firehouse headquarters. In the basement, a light on their old ghost containment system begins to flash red.

Cast

The new film's cast was announced in July 2019, with the cast of the original film signing on two months later:

• Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler
• Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler
• Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler
• Bokeem Woodbine as Sherman Domingo, the sheriff of Summerville
• Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson
• Logan Kim as Podcast
• Celeste O'Connor as Lucky Domingo, a friend of Trevor's and Sheriff Domingo's daughter
• Bill Murray as Peter Venkman
• Dan Aykroyd as Raymond "Ray" Stantz
• Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
• Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
• Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett

The film's cast also includes Marlon Kazadi as Thickneck; Sydney Mae Diaz as Swayze; and Aykroyd's youngest daughter Stella as Deputy Medjuck, a nod to Joe Medjuck, who was an associate producer on Ghostbusters (1984), an executive producer on the subsequent films and a co-founder of production company Ghost Corps. Harold Ramis posthumously appears as Egon Spengler in archival clips and photographs taken from Ghostbusters (1984). Bob Gunton (credited as "The Ghost Farmer") and Ivan Reitman also portray living and ghostly versions of Egon, respectively, using prosthetics and digital makeup. J. K. Simmons plays Ivo Shandor, the leader of a Gozer-worshiping cult responsible for Gozer's presences in the modern world. Simmons took the role as a token of friendship with the Reitmans, with whom he frequently collaborates in films like Jason's 2007 film Juno and the 2017 film Father Figures, co-produced by Ivan. Olivia Wilde, who portrayed Mesopotamian deity Inanna in Ramis's final film Year One, physically portrays Gozer, Shohreh Aghdashloo provides Gozer's voice, and Emma Portner plays Gozer's CGI spirit form, previously portrayed by Slavitza Jovan and Paddi Edwards in voice in Ghostbusters (1984). Josh Gad was one of many actors who contributed to the voice of Muncher, a metal-eating ghost of a miner conjured after a séance went wrong at Summerville's local foundry in the 1940s. Ira Heiden (a friend of Jason Reitman's), Sarah Natochenny and Shelby Young voiced the Mini-Pufts, miniature doppelgängers of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but were not credited for their performances.

Production

Development

As Ghostbusters III

In the early 1990s, following the release of Ghostbusters II, Dan Aykroyd wrote a script for a third Ghostbusters film tentatively titled Ghostbusters III: Hellbent. In the script, the Ghostbusters are transported to a parallel-universe version of Manhattan called Manhellton, where the people and places are "hellish" versions of Earth, and the characters meet and confront the Devil. At the time, Aykroyd stated that Columbia Pictures was interested, though the principal actors, especially Bill Murray, were not. The Hellbent script's main characters are a new, younger group of Ghostbusters; Ray, Egon and Winston struggle to keep the business going after Peter's relationship with Dana becomes serious. Elements of this story were used in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009), which Aykroyd considered to be "essentially the third movie". At various stages of its development, Chris Farley, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller were reported as potential stars of a new Ghostbusters film.