Unlike Sony’ other major franchise-driven blockbuster that’s set to release in the very near future, the team behind Ghostbusters: Afterlife has been open since the beginning in admitting that almost all of the major legacy players will be returning, even if the three heaviest hitters haven’t been glimpsed in any of the marketing.
Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson were confirmed for the hybrid of sequel and reboot a long time ago, while the entire plot is set in motion by the late Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler and his family, making Rick Moranis the only member of the original core crew sitting this one out.
Afterlife comes to theaters this weekend, where it’s looking to take a huge bite out of the box office by mixing nostalgia with newness. Murray, Aykroyd and Hudson appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to hype the supernatural comedy, with the former teasing how director Jason Reitman followed in his old man Ivan’s footsteps.
“Jason is the son of the original director Ivan Reitman. He had his own take because he grew up as a child of the Ghostbusters in a way. He had something he thought would work as a good story and we all agreed that he got it.”
Aykroyd voiced his enthusiasm about Ghostbusters: Afterlife “going right back to the first two movies and its DNA”, while Hudson joked that he was “always looking for a job, so I was happy to be working”. The three veterans clearly haven’t lost any of their chemistry since they last shared the screen in 1989, and the early reactions have painted a hugely encouraging picture of the finished product ahead of Friday’s release.
