Ghostbusters: Afterlife | |
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Directed by | Jason Reitman |
Written by |
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Based on | Ghostbusters by Dan Aykroyd Harold Ramis Ivan Reitman |
Produced by | Ivan Reitman |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Eric Steelberg |
Edited by |
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Music by | Rob Simonsen |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 125 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $75 million[1] |
Box office | $118 million[2][3] |
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a 2021 American supernatural comedy film directed by Jason Reitman, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gil Kenan. It is the sequel to Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), both directed by Reitman's father Ivan, and the fourth film in the Ghostbusters franchise. It stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd, while Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver reprise their roles from the original films. Set 32 years after Ghostbusters II, a single mother and her two children move to a small town in Oklahoma, where they discover their connection to the Ghostbusters and their grandfather's secret legacy.
A third Ghostbusters film had been in development since Ghostbusters II, but stalled as Murray refused to commit. In the end, it became Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which Dan Ackroyd insisted was "essentially the third movie."[4] After cast member Harold Ramis died in 2014, Sony produced a female-driven reboot directed by Paul Feig and released in 2016. After Feig's film drew controversy and underperformed commercially, [5] Jason Reitman developed a sequel to the original films. The new cast was announced by July 2019, while the original cast signed on two months later. It is posthumously dedicated to Ramis, who is commemorated in the closing credits. Filming took place from July to October 2019.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was screened unannounced on August 23, 2021 during the 2021 CinemaCon event in Las Vegas. It was released in the United States on November 19, 2021, after being delayed four times from an original July 2020 date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances, Reitman's direction, and nostalgic tone, but criticized the screenplay and fan service. It has grossed shy of $118 million worldwide.
Thirty-two years after stopping the despotic spirit Vigo, the Ghostbusters have disbanded after a decline in supernatural activities in New York City. Egon Spengler has relocated to Summerville, Oklahoma, where Gozerian cultist Ivo Shandor's mining operations are located. Egon captures a bestial entity from one of the mines, aiming to lure a more powerful entity to his farm to trap it. When the trap fails, he hides the ghost trap in a secret compartment located beneath his farmhouse's living room floor. Egon struggles with another entity and suffers a fatal heart attack.
Callie, Egon's estranged daughter, and her two children, Trevor and Phoebe, are evicted from their city apartment and move to Egon's farm, which he has left to Callie. Trevor meets a local girl, Lucky, and gets a job at the diner where she works. Phoebe is enrolled in a summer science class at a local middle school. Her mentor is eccentric seismologist Gary Grooberson, whom Callie later dates.
Phoebe discovers the house is haunted and finds a PKE meter under Egon's chair. An unseen ghost leads her to the hidden ghost trap, while Trevor finds and repairs the dilapidated Ecto-1 vehicle. Lucky takes Trevor to an old mine shaft with her friends, where they encounter a glowing apparition. Phoebe shows the ghost trap to her new friend, Podcast, and Gary reveals he is a fan of the Ghostbusters, conducting his own investigation on Summerville. Despite not sitting on an epicenter, the town has been consistently experiencing strange earthquakes. Gary, Phoebe, and Podcast tamper with the ghost trap, and the bestial entity, revealed to be one of interdimensional being Gozer's minions, escapes into Shandor's mine.
The ghost leads Phoebe to an underground lair where Egon kept his equipment. Realizing the ghost is her grandfather, Phoebe restores the Ghostbusters' proton packs under his direction. She and Podcast test one the next day when they encounter Muncher, a metal-eating ghost, but Muncher initially escapes capture and flees into Summerville. After Phoebe informs Trevor that they are descendants of a Ghostbuster, the trio chase Muncher in the Ecto-1 and successfully capture him. However, the police arrest them for property damage, confiscating the Ecto-1 and other gear. Phoebe calls the Ghostbusters' number and reaches Ray Stantz; he explains that when Egon's teammates doubted his belief in the coming apocalypse, he then stole the car and gear and moved to Summerville.
Trevor, Phoebe, Lucky, and Podcast find a temple dedicated to Gozer inside the mine. They also find Ivo Shandor (in suspended animation), and a device Egon built to contain incursions by Gozer with crossed proton streams, whose escape attempts are causing the earthquakes. Gary and Callie are possessed by Gozer's minions Vinz Clortho the Keymaster and Zuul the Gatekeeper, respectively, and go to Shandor's mine. The Keymaster destroys Egon's device's neutrona wands, allowing Gozer to manifest and Shandor to awaken; the former then kills the latter. The kids discover Egon's plan to trap Gozer and, donning the Ghostbusters jumpsuits, they retrieve the confiscated Ecto-1 and Ghostbuster gear and enter the mine to enact it. Phoebe distracts Gozer and Podcast traps Zuul, freeing Callie and causing Gozer's form to falter. They flee the mine to Egon's farm, drawing Gozer there to trap it, but the trap malfunctions, and the Mini-Pufts sabotage the equipment in the Ecto-1, allowing Gozer to free Zuul. Zuul possesses Lucky, and Gozer is restored.
Ray arrives with Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore to aid the Spenglers and their friends, but Gozer overpowers them by countering the Ghostbusters' tactics. Phoebe battles Gozer herself, and Egon's ghost materializes beside his granddaughter to help. Phoebe and the Ghostbusters restrain Gozer while Trevor charges the trap with a stream from his proton pack after Podcast fixed it, which triggers the ghost traps, capturing Gozer and its minions within them. Egon reconciles with his family and friends before vanishing into the afterlife. After getting acquainted with the group, the surviving original Ghostbusters return to New York City with the Ecto-1 and equipment.
Venkman and Dana Barrett play with Venkman's ESP cards and shock machine, while Winston, who is now a wealthy family man, uses his resources to maintain the Ghostbusters' properties. On the Ghostbusters' firehouse's ecto-containment unit, a warning light blinks.
Harold Ramis posthumously appears as Dr. Egon Spengler via archival clips and photos taken from the original two films.[18] Ramis' likeness is also used in the film, with Bob Gunton and Ivan Reitman serving as body-doubles.[17][19][better source needed]
In the early 1990s, following the release of Ghostbusters II, Dan Aykroyd wrote a script for a third film, tentatively titled Ghostbusters III: Hellbent.[20] The concept had the characters transported to an alternate-universe version of Manhattan called Manhellton, where the people and places are "hellish" versions of Earth, with the Ghostbusters meeting and confronting the devil.[21][22] At the time, Aykroyd stated that the studio was interested, though the principal actors (especially Bill Murray) were not. It featured a new, younger group of Ghostbusters, while Ray, Egon, and Winston struggle to keep the business going upon Peter's relationship becoming serious with Dana.[22] Part of this concept was used in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009), which Ackroyd would go on to claim was "essentially the third movie." At one point, the new Ghostbusters team was rumored to be played by Chris Farley, Chris Rock, and Ben Stiller.[23]
By 2004, movement on a sequel was revisited by the studio, though Murray again expressed little interest in the project, saying that he disliked sequels.[24] The following year, Ramis confirmed plans to introduce Stiller into the principal cast.[21][25] By 2009, however, development had stalled.[20] By January 2010, Ivan Reitman, director of the first two Ghostbusters, confirmed that he would direct.[26][27] In March, Murray discussed development of the film, and his mixed feelings about reprising his role.[28][29] A release was scheduled for Christmas 2012.[30] In the October issue of Vanity Fair, Aykroyd commented on the screenplay written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, stating that he was particularly impressed with how Murray's character had been written, and the implementation of the new team with the original team, while he and Ramis would work on a second draft of the script.[31]
By August 2011, Aykroyd stated that the plan was for filming to begin later that year, with the story of the mantle being assumed by the younger generation.[32][33] Later, when Murray decided not to reprise the starring role of Peter Venkman, Aykroyd said that another actor might replace him.[34] Aykroyd also mentioned that he wanted Rick Moranis to return as Louis Tully.[35] By February 2012, the film was placed on hold as the production team reevaluated the project. Without Murray, the studio searched for replacement actors and considered featuring his character as a CGI-rendered ghost.[36] In June, Murray again acknowledged that all involved were attempting to develop the third film once more before dropping out of the film the following month.[37][38][39] In July, Aykroyd confirmed that the film was back in development, with a script re-write from Etan Cohen.[40] Aykroyd said of the script that "It's got to be perfect. That's the whole thing. There's no point in doing it unless it's perfect. So that's what we're up to now."[40] By September 2012, Reitman announced the developments of a remake.[41] In May 2013, Aykroyd discussed plot points including real-life experiments being done by college students at Columbia University being source for inspiration. The plot would revolve around research being done by the university, which would bring about threats from other dimensions with a new team of Ghostbusters forming to save Earth's plane of existence from supernatural threats.[42] The script reportedly wrote Murray's character in, with hopes that the actor would decide to join the production.[43]
After the death of Harold Ramis on February 24, 2014,[44] Sony Pictures stated that Ramis would appear in the film as a cameo. The film was delayed again to rework the script after Ramis's death.[45] By March 2015, it was confirmed that Reitman would not direct the third film, but would remain as producer, with plans to begin principal photography by early 2015.[46] Weaver revealed that her character's son would feature as a member of the team.[47]
A new film connected to the original two films, was revealed in January 2019. Jason Reitman, son of original director Ivan Reitman, was announced to direct from a script he co-wrote with Gil Kenan, while Ivan Reitman will serve as a producer.[48] According to The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit, the film will feature teenagers, two boys and two girls, as the new recruits for the titular team.[49] The film was scheduled to be released on July 10, 2020, but was delayed to March 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[50][51] Principal photography began in July 2019 in Calgary and ended in October of that same year.[52][48]
Director Jason Reitman has stated the film will ignore the events of 2016's Ghostbusters reboot directed by Paul Feig. Later, in February 2019, Reitman stated on a podcast that this film will "hand the movie back to the fans". Reitman clarified that he did not mean to snub the 2016 film and that he had "nothing but admiration" for Feig. Feig himself stated that Reitman had been a supporter of his film and that he "can't wait to see his take on the Ghostbusters universe".[53] Reitman later explained the origins of his film, that the idea of a young teenage girl wanting to be a Ghostbuster had come to him, and with a positive reaction from Feig's film, proved out that the idea that anyone could be a Ghostbuster would work. Reitman continued that the Ghostbusters franchise could readily expand on this idea with all types of people becoming Ghostbusters, personally thanking Feig for making this possible.[54] Reitman considered that unlike the three prior Ghostbusters films which all involved people going into the ghostbusting business that he wanted to make this film about family first, and with Kenan, created the script based around the Spengler family and why they were so disconnected.[55] Of Reitman's script, Aykroyd stated, "Jason Reitman wrote a beautiful, heartfelt script that takes the real DNA from the first two movies and transfers that directly to the third, the next generation. It hands the legacy off to a new generation of stars, and players, and actors, and characters."[56] Bill Murray, also confirmed to be returning to reprise Peter Venkman, said of the script, "The script is good. It's got lots of emotion in it. It's got lots of family in it, with through lines that are really interesting."[57]
With a script centered around family, Reitman also felt it was appropriate to also change the setting from New York City to the American West, as to give the film a new identity from the prior films and a different color palette. The script was structured like a mystery to slowly reveal the connection to the Egon Spengler character, which then would bring in the other facets of past Ghostbusters elements into the film. For example, the film brings up that Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd's character) returned to running Ray's Occult Books as shown in Ghostbusters II.[55]
Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, and Carrie Coon were announced in March 2019, cast as the sister and brother with their single mother, respectively.[6][10] Reitman described Grace as an avid fan of the series and a perfect fit for his teenaged-girl Ghostbuster concept.[54] Wolfhard was unsure if he would get the role as he had already dressed up as a Ghostbuster during the second season of Stranger Things and that "Jason Reitman is probably not even going to look at my tape" because of that.[58] On June 27, 2019, Paul Rudd shared a video on the official Ghostbusters social media accounts revealing that he had been cast in the film, later confirmed to be Mr. Grooberson, the children's new teacher who knows of the Ghostbusters' legacy.[11][59][7] Newcomers Celeste O'Connor and Logan Kim were announced as cast in July 2019.[60]
In addition, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts have been confirmed to be reprising their roles from the first two Ghostbusters films.[61][13][56][57]
To hold to the first Ghostbusters film, Reitman and the production crew reviewed the design of the ghosts and other supernatural creatures from the original film to design the ones for Afterlife, observing that nearly everyone from the original film had an original and unique design. This in part led to the creature of Muncher, a ghost similar to Slimer, for Afterlife. Reitman said that "Something happened to Slimer over the years that people started thinking of him as the dalmatian of the firehouse. The original Slimer was an angry dude and very scary and we wanted to get back to that."[55]
Under the working title "Rust City", principal photography began on July 12, 2019, in Calgary, Alberta and area, and lasted until October. Location shooting in surrounding communities such as Crossfield, Beiseker,[62] and Drumheller took place during July and August 2019.[63] Additional locations around Alberta were also used.[63][64][65] On October 18, 2019, Reitman posted a photo on his Instagram account confirming that filming had wrapped after 68 days.[66]
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is scored by Rob Simonsen. Simonsen studied Elmer Berstein's score from the original Ghostbusters. He approached Peter Bernstein to take on the role of score consultant, and Bernstein provided guidance on the orchestration of Simonsen's score, as well as the use of the material from Ghostbusters. Simonsen made use of the ondes Martenot throughout the score, played by Cynthia Millar, who also played the same instrument on Elmer Berstein's 1984 Ghostbusters score. A soundtrack CD was released on November 19, 2021.
"Ghostbusters", by Ray Parker Jr., appears in the film's end credits. "Haunted House", which is performed by Mckenna Grace, also appears in the film's end credits. [67] "The Clapping Song" by Shirley Ellis, "Baby It's You" by The Shirelles, "Can You Get to That" by Funkadelic" and "Boredom" by Buzzcocks are featured during the film.[68]
On August 22, 2019, toy manufacturer and multimedia company Hasbro announced that they have obtained the master toy license for the Ghostbusters franchise, with the new products (including action figures and role-play items) set to be released in stores in April.[69] Because of the pandemic delays to the movie's release date, the introduction of Ghostbusters: Afterlife toys to market has also been delayed. Target received exclusive versions of some toys ahead of the projected June 2021 release date, but further rollouts were held back when the studio announced an additional delay until November 2021.[70] A new line of Hasbro action figures based on the movie was unveiled on the same day the second trailer debuted. It included several characters and costumes that had not been seen in any promotional material for the movie before.[71][72]
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on July 10, 2020, by Sony Pictures Releasing,[50] but it was delayed to March 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking the release date of Uncharted.[73] On October 21, 2020, Sony pushed the film once again to June 11, 2021,[74] then later in January 2021 shifted the release to November 11, 2021.[75][76] In September 2021, the film was once again delayed to November 19, 2021, taking over the release date of Top Gun: Maverick.[77]
The film had an unannounced screening on August 23, 2021 during the 2021 CinemaCon event in Las Vegas.[78] The film also had a surprise screening for fans at the 2021 New York Comic Con.[79]
As of November 30, 2021[update], Ghostbusters: Afterlife has grossed $90 million in the United States and Canada, and $28 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of over $118 million.[2][3]
In the United States and Canada, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was released alongside King Richard, and was initially projected to gross $28–35 million from 4,315 theaters in its opening weekend.[1] After making $16.6 million on its first day (including $4.5 million from Thursday night previews, $1 million more than the 2016 film), projections were increased to $40 million. It went on to debut to $44 million, topping the box office.[80] The film made $5.3 million on Thanksgiving and then $24.5 million (-44%) in its second weekend, finishing second behind newcomer Encanto.[81]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 63% of 246 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife crosses the streams between franchise revival and exercise in nostalgia -- and this time around, the bustin' mostly feels good."[82] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[83] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 82% positive score, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend it.[80]
Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter described the film's cast as "engaging" and "[having] the comic beats down", and added: "they also play more fully fleshed people than the first film offered, reflecting the director's interest in character-driven stories." She also noted some similarities the film had with Stranger Things, The Wizard of Oz and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[84] Olly Richards of Empire gave the film a score of four out of five stars, describing it as being "thoroughly lovely" and concluding that it "firmly establishes its own new generation" while being "full of love for the originals".[85] Peter Debruge of Variety described the film as an "unnecessary but enjoyable movie", and added: "The good news for Ghostbusters fans is that Afterlife does nothing to tarnish what has come before".[86] William Bibbiani of TheWrap wrote that "fans of the original—especially the ones who love finding Easter eggs—will probably be satisfied", but added: "Those who enjoyed the 1984 film and who actually wanted a new installment of Ghostbusters to offer something different … may be disappointed, but they can probably settle for Afterlife's slick and straightforward, formulaic craftsmanship."[87] Scott Mendelson of Forbes gave the film a score of 6 out of 10, describing it as a "charming and witty kid-centric coming-of-age fantasy", but criticized its reliance on "pandering" nostalgic fanservice.[88] Kyle Smith of National Review described the film as "a winsome, endearing summer movie for November, a cunningly engineered generational bridge."[89]
Christian Holub of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of C+ and describing it as "a stark reminder of how much of modern American culture consists of excavating the ruins of past glories".[90] Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade of C, writing that it "wants desperately to summon the spirit of watching the first movie back in 1984. It winds up ghoulish in the wrong way."[91] Courtney Howard of IndieWire also gave the film a C, writing that "with all the nostalgia packed into the picture, its own refurbished identity is slightly compromised, functioning as a mimeograph of what came before it".[92] Charles Bramesco of The Guardian gave the film one out of five, describing it as "a damning summary of modern Hollywood's default mode—a nostalgia object, drained of personality and fitted into a dully palatable mold, custom-made for a fandom that worships everything and respects nothing".[93] Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film two out of five, describing it as "a shamefully flat mishmash rehash".[94]
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