Fresh off reveals that William Atherton would be reprising his “Ghostbusters” role as Walter Peck, Sony’s CinemaCon presentation also offered up the first tease to the sequel to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan appeared in a pre-taped video reminding us about the world premiere of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” at the 2021 CInemaCon. We also get an on-set moment of all the new characters (including Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd alongside Mckenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard) in Ghostbusters costumes.
The film has been slated for December 20, 2023, although Warner Bros. Discovery moving “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” into that pre-Christmas slot implies (speculation) that the Sony film might get pushed to 2024.
The film, now directed by the previous film’s co-writer, Gil Kenan, with Jason Reitman remaining as a producer, will hope to capitalize on a relatively well-received legacy sequel that earned $206 million worldwide on a $75 million budget. It’ll have to thread a needle of offering a sequel that centers the new cast, because plenty of younger moviegoers liked the film on its own merits and takes the “mythology” in new directions without succumbing to fan backlash.
To be fair, maybe the big challenge for Sony may just be ignoring the online backlash since at least some of it will be performative, disingenuous and in pursuit of viewers and ad dollars that now exists in what is essentially a YouTube pop culture trolling industrial complex. We had a chance to nip this in the bud way back when #BoycottEpisodeVII was revealed as a prank and “The Force Awakens” soared to $2.068 billion worldwide, but now it’s a back-and-forth economy unto itself.
The issue with “Ghostbusters: Answer the Call” wasn’t that it starred four female comic actresses in a previously male-dominated franchise. It was that the Paul Feig-directed sci-fi comedy cost $144 million, and thus its $126 million domestic but just $229 million worldwide total was a disaster. And the reason this “for the fans” legacy follow-up worked is because the budget was kept in check in case overseas audiences again stayed home, which they did.
Will it be a reprise of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” where “fans” are okay with a young female lead when she was anchored and approved by original franchise characters only to revolt when the sequel questions the dogma and puts her on her own path? And if that happens, will Sony be wise and experienced to know that, presuming the reviews and general audience word-of-mouth is solid, the online heckling doesn’t represent a mainstream consensus? God willing.
