In 2016, Ghostbusters found itself – somewhat surprisingly – as a touchy subject, when Paul Feig’s female-led reboot (or more specifically, the trailer for it) drew heavy backlash that quickly escalated into some pretty nasty territory. It soon became the case that the actual quality of the film itself was practically besides the point, but regardless of whether you think it deserved better than its underwhelming box office figures, it’s probably a good thing that we never got a sequel, as it’s allowed the fanbase to move on from this all-round unpleasant chapter in the franchise’s history.
Sadly, however, in the wake of this week’s announcement that director Ivan Reitman’s son Jason will be helming Ghostbusters 3, which will go back to the continuity of the first two films, it seems like old tensions are bubbling to the surface once again. On the one hand, some fans are glad to see more from the series. But on the other, a lot of people are apparently just getting tired of Columbia’s continued insistence on bringing back the franchise.
No matter which side of the fence you fall on, though, it’s impossible to deny that the project has caught the attention of just about everyone and though we still don’t know much about what to expect, we can at least begin to form an idea of what’s coming our way thanks to the very first details on both the plot and characters.
Provided to We Got This Covered by a trusted source, the intel explains that the two central characters will be a young boy and girl. The former will be 13 years of age and is said to be passionate about fantasy and conspiracy theories. Furthermore, he apparently approaches every situation with “unbridled excitement for the unknown.” What’s perhaps most interesting though is that he quite often will narrate life in real time, adding “descriptive color” to the people he meets.
As for the girl, she crosses paths with the aforementioned boy at some point in the film and they quickly become friends. She’s 12 years of age, from what we understand, and is said to be an insanely smart kid. However, she often has a hard time with “interpreting and expressing emotions and speaks with a flat delivery that make her observations humorous.” Though she wants to connect with others, she struggles with interpreting how her family and friends feel and has difficulty sharing her own feelings. Her “science acumen” is said to prove invaluable throughout the story, though.
As for the plot, we don’t have too much to go on, but we’ve been told the basic gist of it, and that’s that the film will focus on a family who moves back home to a small town. While there, they begin to “learn more about who they are and the secrets of the town itself.” Unfortunately, there’s no mention of how – or even if – any of the original Busters will factor into the story, but we imagine that this family is somehow connected to one or more of the characters from the first two movies.
Not only that, but it’s widely expected that we’ll be seeing some familiar faces in the threequel. After all, Dan Aykroyd was the first one last year to hint that Ghostbusters 3 was finally happening, while also teasing that “there’s a possibility of a reunion with the three remaining Ghostbusters.” And while Bill Murray has yet to be heard from, his old friend seemed cautiously optimistic that he’d be game to return.
Either way, the threequel will be hitting theaters in summer 2020, and as soon as we’ve got more to share, we’ll be sure to let you know.