2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a crowd pleasing legacy-quel that reinvigorated a classic franchise. So it wasn’t long before a sequel was greenlit and eventually given the code name “Firehouse.” In light of the debut of the teaser trailer for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s debut on the 2024 movie schedule, that chain of events is kind of amusing, as the real title of the movie is literally much cooler. Though speaking of cool, I can't get enough of seeing Paul Rudd as part of the new ensemble of full fledged Ghostbusters, taking the fight back to New York City!
Sony Pictures has finally revealed the title to the Gil Kenan directed follow-up, and faster than you can say, “interdimensional crossrip,” things have already gotten strange in the good old neighborhood of NYC. The official synopsis for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire clues us in even further on the specific strangeness we should expect, and it reads as follows:
The Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.
With Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s ending setting up the return to the trusty firehouse from the 1984 original, there was plenty of anticipation for what would come next. So seeing Phoebe (McKenna Grace), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Lucky (Celeste O'Connor) step back into the role of rookie ghost hunters was not only a given, it’s still pretty awesome to behold in this chilling tale.
But what’s even more exciting is that, among the returns of Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson in Frozen Empire, is that we get to see two new recruits that are probably going to get some fists pumping. Yes, I’m talking about the fact that Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd are both suiting up, strapping on Proton Packs, and taking the fight to whatever that gigantic frozen menace is towards the end of the trailer.
Even in light of what we knew about Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s sequel marking their returns, to see the two actors getting in on the actual action is quite pleasing. Especially when this teaser ends with a moment so classically Paul Rudd that it’s sure to leave you smiling in the face of impending polar peril.
It’s no secret that Dan Aykroyd has another Ghostbusters idea in the hopper for this continuing saga. Should this new installment excite fans as much as its predecessor did, we might see the next generation of paranormal investigation going international. For the moment though, it’s good to see the Ecto-1 once again tearing up the New York streets, where our heroes are protecting the Big Apple from anyone, or anything, that wants to try and take a bite.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is going to chill us all soon enough, as it makes its way to theaters on March 29, 2024. If you want to either revisit, or partake in Ghostbusters: Afterlife for the first time, you can currently stream that title on Starz, which is easily accessible through a handy add-on to a Prime Video subscription.
