Afterlife Sets Up Ghostbusters 4: Will It Actually Happen?

The ending of Ghostbusters: Afterlife sets up a potential Ghostbusters 4, but will another sequel in the original continuity actually happen?

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Warning: SPOILERS for Ghostbusters: Afterlife below.

Sony’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife sets up a sequel with the threequel definitely leaving the door open for more adventures, but will Ghostbusters 4 happen? Not that long ago, it seemed unlikely audiences would ever get to see another movie set in the original Ghostbusters continuity, as Egon Spengler actor Harold Ramis had passed away, Peter Venkman actor Bill Murray seemed uninterested in returning, Louis Tully actor Rick Moranis had retired from acting, and 2016 saw the release of Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot starring an all-female team.

Yet, after 30-plus years, Ghostbusters: Afterlife has now transported audiences back to the world they knew and loved in 1984’s Ghostbusters and 1989’s underrated sequel Ghostbusters 2. The feel of the new movie isn’t quite the same, nor should it be, as times have changed, the original Ghostbusters have aged considerably, and a different writer/director is behind the camera in Jason Reitman (the son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman). Still, what Ghostbusters: Afterlife does right is capture the same playful spirit as the original.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is also jam-packed full of moments designed to please longtime fans, none more than when surviving Ghostbusters Ray Stantz (Dan Akroyd), Peter Venkman, and Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson) show up to help Egon’s granddaughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and grandson Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) save the day from Gozer. However, it would seem they aren’t just back for a one-off return. Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s post-credits scenes strongly hint that this isn’t the end of the road for the Ghostbusters franchise.

How Ghostbusters After-Life Sets Up Another Movie

Ghostbusters: Afterlife ends with Egon’s grandchildren, his daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon), and their friends teaming up with the original Ghostbusters – including Egon’s ghost – to defeat Gozer and seemingly save the world. That might seem like a fairly cut and dry ending, were it not for the movie’s post-credits scene, which sees Winston – now an extremely rich businessman – buy the old Ghostbusters firehouse and look to rehabilitate Ecto-1. That’s a clear sequel setup, as is a final shot showing the old ghost containment unit beeping in an unsettling way.

What Needs To Happen For Ghostbusters 4 To Happen?

Realistically, the biggest factor as to whether or not Ghostbusters 4 happens is Afterlife’s box office take. The bottom line rules all in Hollywood, and no amount of audience goodwill or downloads of Ray Parker Jr.’s iconic Ghostbusters theme will overpower a lack of profit. Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman wants to make both sequels and spinoffs, saying, “One thing I wanted to do is set the table for Ghostbusters as a franchise to have all kinds of movies, and we need to do something that really was about setting a foundation and bringing the original 1984 story to a place so that other stories could bloom.” Box office predictions are suggesting a $30 million domestic opening for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which will give it the #1 spot, but isn’t exactly knocking it out of the park. Still, with a $75 million budget, Afterlife could still be profitable.

Would Ghostbusters 4 Include The Original Cast?

Since all of Ghostbusters’ surviving original main cast members – excluding the retired Rick Moranis – returned for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it seems likely that at least some of them would come back for a Ghostbusters 4. In one case, that’s almost a given, as Winston actor Ernie Hudson said in a recent interview, “If they threw it, I would be honored to do it. I’ve heard rumors they’re writing a new one, so we’ll see.” Dan Aykroyd’s love for the franchise he co-created is also well-known, so he’d probably come back. The biggest question mark is of course Bill Murray, who avoided even doing a third film for literal decades.

Ghostbusters 4 Release Date Prediction

If Ghostbusters 4 happens, a safe bet seems to be that it won’t take another 32 years to materialize. The Ghostbusters franchise is Jason Reitman’s legacy, with his dad directing the originals and Jason having a cameo in Ghostbusters 2 as a kid. He clearly has ideas for how to move forward, and the groundwork has been laid from a narrative standpoint. Still, this kind of effects-heavy tentpole tends to have a long turnaround time, so even if a Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel is greenlit soon, a release window of no earlier than late 2023 seems likely.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/ghostbusters-4-updates-news-story-setup/