So with the way how Frozen Empire ends, Im wondering if the Ghostbusters franchise will be ongoing, that would be great. The first Ghostbusters movie is of course a classic and the following movies, cartoons, and video games about Ghostbusters in my opinion have been mostly good although I know there’s been some disappointments but I thought Frozen Empire was pretty good.
Sadly Harold Ramis from the original Ghostbusters movie is no longer with us and Rick Moranis has apparently retired from acting but it looks like the newer actors such as Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace are now taking up the roles as ghostbusters and the way Frozen Empire ends, it looks like there will be more Ghostbusters movies featuring them. I would love for the Ghostbusters franchise to become an ongoing franchise like Star Trek and James Bond, that would be awesome.
As much as I’d love on-going content, currently the franchise isn’t set up for it or really big enough to support multiple large projects happening at the same time. What I’d love to see is one or two more movies with the current team that can set up different franchises nationally or globally then spin off a TV series centered around one or several of these teams.
Ghostbusters is well known, sure, but it isn’t as big as Star Wars, Star Trek, Bond, or any number of any multi-movie or TV series franchises. The original Ghostbusters is iconic to the point that recasting any of those roles in live action is sacrilege, so you can’t do the James Bond thing and recast every few movies. The new cast, while mostly all Spenglers COULD be split up to form different franchises and you could do the Star Trek thing and focus on a different city and group. Not every Star Trek is about an Enterprise, after all. Lastly, there’s the option of a full reboot, starting off knowing what works, what doesn’t, but after 2016, that might be a cold idea and not something Sony/Ghost Corp. will want to attempt again until they ABSOLUTELY have to
I hope so. But it’s not looking likely. However I’ve been wrong before.
I mean looking at the timeframe of Afterlife to FEs announcement. Afterlife came out in late 2021..and FE (untitled at the time) was announced mid 2022 and set for Christmas 23 release. That’s a pretty healthy timeline. We already knew a sequel was coming not even a full year after the predecessor.
FE came out in March 24, and it’s now January 26…Things have been almost TOO quiet. The fact that we got ZERO updates on any projects June 2025 on Gb Day is a little worrying (the best they could give us was a fundraiser). Hopefully things pick back up in June 2026
But FE wasn’t the best darling to critics / audiences and its numbers were average. So I dunno, man.
I’d love to see Pheobe become a leader finally. But who knows.
I felt FE was a really weak film. The edits were not great and a lot of lead up for a nothing villain. I don’t mean to speak ill but I don’t think “The Spenglers” are a solid cast and team of characters I have any real desire to follow. Phoebe has some good potential and I get Rudd…but the others…why are they there?
I’d honestly rather see a new team in a series being set up with Ray and Winston guest starring for a few episodes to help them get set up. Ghostcorps can see how franchises as fans work…only IP I’ve seen where the fans have a better grasp of what the future of the story should be then the creators.
Do a series of a new city, new team, same styled of tech for packs and traps etc (not the yellow bumper stuff) and get into stories of paranormal entities that deal with certain locales. Some places are hugely known to be haunted. Not having to keep letting ghosts out of ECU every few films so they give the GB’s a reason to stay in business.
the problem is it didnt know what kind of story it wanted to be. Its an entertaining movie in a ‘turn your brain off’ kind of way, but something Ivan was a master at was giving his films a heart (even as producer)
the other GB movies have some kind of theme holding it together.
GB 1 - zeros to heroes/underdog story
GB 2 - second chances/being excellent to each other
GB 3 - forgiveness/coming of age/discovering your roots
FE had the Golden Years subplot with Ray..but it needed to lean into it more for it to be the theme of the movie–because you also had Firemaster, Melody, Pheobe, Gary becoming a step-father–too much going on and needed to reeled in.
You can say the theme is “finding your place” but each character is so isolated in their journey and we dont get enough of each that the movie falls flat from its core.
i wonder how FE would’ve turned out if Ivan were still around to put his foot down on weak decisions.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]and a lot of lead up for a nothing villain.
[/quote]
A “nothing villain”? What constituted “nothing”? Because we saw Garraka damage the Containment Unit, escape his brass orb, kill several people, freeze New York, and nearly won.
Garraka is close to, if not level-pegged with Vigo in terms of influence and on-screen action.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]but the others…why are they there?
[/quote]
Frozen Empire doesn’t make as good use of Trevor as Afterlife did, but his presence there provides continuity (I think his absence would’ve been a bit too glaring, it’s kinda like how it’s rather notable how Dana Freeling is missing from Poltergeist II [for obvious real-world reasons], how all the Freelings bar Carol-Ann are missing in Poltergeist III, how Dr. Laurel Weaver is missing from Men in Black II-onwards, Val McKee in Tremors 2, etc.), comic relief from his misadventures with Slimer, some of his technical-know-how with fixing Ecto-1, and his insightful observation that the hidden room in Nadeem’s grandmother’s apartment was an audio dead space.
Not including Callie would also have been a notable absence… And you can’t well have her kids going around busting Ghosts without her supervising. To have not had her in the movie would position her as suddenly having become the absent parent that she resented Egon for years for being.
In Frozen Empire, she’s clearly the team’s new leader, and thematically, she’s also the comic-relief-relief, making sure the more serious aspects and ramifications of what the Ghostbusters are doing is not forgotten.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]I’d honestly rather see a new team in a series being set up with Ray and Winston guest starring for a few episodes to help them get set up.
[/quote]
That may still happen, depending on either the new animated series, or whatever Ghost Corps’ plans are.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]only IP I’ve seen where the fans have a better grasp of what the future of the story should be then the creators.
[/quote]
If I had a dollar every time I saw a fan write that. (No nastiness intended, just light-hearted jesting)
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204](not the yellow bumper stuff)
[/quote]
But that is the newest iteration of the Proton Packs, it would be a bit strange for a new team that’s been authorised by Zeddemore Industries not to use the updated version of the Packs developed by Winston’s engineers.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]having to keep letting ghosts out of ECU every few films so they give the GB’s a reason to stay in business.
[/quote]
Frozen Empire established that New York (and the world) was seeing an increase in paranormal activity not related to Garraka’s presence, the Ghostbusters wouldn’t need the accidental release of the ghosts from the Containment Unit because they were already seeing an uptick in calls… It’d be like throwing a bucket of water into a river that’s already overflowing.
GB 4 - learning from the mistakes you’ve made, finding your place in the world (either as a teenager, a step-father, entering retirement or going through life with no direction), discovering your hidden inner talents.
Key characters are edited out of scenes (Venkman was obviously supposed to be in the Lab introduction)
too many subplots going on which makes the movie messy and chaotic. It’s jumbled and all over the place with all the characters trying to fit.
Some of the deleted scenes should have been kept in.
Because of this it doesn’t really follow a 3 act structure or a pace to keep it clean. It kind of has a beginning and then a 3rd act wrap up. The movie kinda blurs itself in where the scenes take place.
What makes 84 work so well is its clean consistency. We got a main protagonist and 3 confidants. We have a damsel and a patsy. A human obstacle (Peck) and a main villain. And you can easily break it down so simply because the screen play is seamless:
Act 1:
Library to Zuul intro to Sedgewick Hotel
Hero Montage = end of act 1
Act 2:
Intro Winston and Peck to Zuul and Vinz possession to Containment Unit explosion
Bill being removed from that particular part of the film doesn’t automatically mean that was a bad edit. It’s something you disagree with, which is fair enough, but it’s not bad editing…
Objectively, it’s an example of skilled editing because had we not seen the behind-the-scenes footage, we wouldn’t have known Bill was ever in that scene.
As to why Bill was cut, only Gill/Jason/Bill likely know… :whatever: Maybe Gil and Jason opted to make his first appearance in the film more of a pleasant surprise.
Fair enough, yes I disagree as a big Bill fan. Lolol
But..If the Filmmakers want to use his later scenes as a creative decision? Fine. That goes out of the range of bad editing, just bizarre storytelling decisions—you have the Nadeem interview and then Venkman disappears for a good chunk until the showdown.
You at least have an idea what Ray and Winston and everyone else are up to off screen. Not including Venkman in the mix more is a glaring issue in terms of too many characters to juggle.
However, It’s bad editing when you can clearly see him lingering around in a few shots during the Lab intro scene
At first I thought FE had too many arcs too but after rewatching it a couple times I view it more as:
Life from everyone’s point of view while dealing with the current situation. “Finding your place” is definitely the theme. I wouldn’t call them isolated. It’s showing what everyone is personally going through.
I love the yellow added to the proton packs. I mentioned when they were revealed they match well with the trap stripes. It gives the equipment some extra cohesiveness. It wasn’t necessary but it’s a nice touch.
I do wish at least the rooftop scene was left in. Very curious about that. Someone should ask whenever they do interviews. They should have asked one of them during the YHS stream. Not Jason or Gil. I mean McKenna, Celeste, Ernie or Logan.
The characters besides Phoebe and Gary should be there. Callie is the mom and Trevor is the brother/son. They’re related to Egon. They can pursue other things but they should remain involved.
Podcast is Phoebe’s friend who loves the supernatural and Lucky remained interested in ghostbusting. Not saying they need to be the focus of a movie but they should be included as members of the NY location…assuming they do branch out.
I think it’s easy to say Peter is home or hanging out somewhere when not at the lab. That fits his character. It even fits with that deleted scene he has with Gary.
A “nothing villain”? What constituted “nothing”? Because we saw Garraka damage the Containment Unit, escape his brass orb, kill several people, freeze New York, and nearly won.
Garraka is close to, if not level-pegged with Vigo in terms of influence and on-screen action.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]but the others…why are they there?
[/quote]
Frozen Empire doesn’t make as good use of Trevor as Afterlife did, but his presence there provides continuity (I think his absence would’ve been a bit too glaring, it’s kinda like how it’s rather notable how Dana Freeling is missing from Poltergeist II [for obvious real-world reasons], how all the Freelings bar Carol-Ann are missing in Poltergeist III, how Dr. Laurel Weaver is missing from Men in Black II-onwards, Val McKee in Tremors 2, etc.), comic relief from his misadventures with Slimer, some of his technical-know-how with fixing Ecto-1, and his insightful observation that the hidden room in Nadeem’s grandmother’s apartment was an audio dead space.
Not including Callie would also have been a notable absence… And you can’t well have her kids going around busting Ghosts without her supervising. To have not had her in the movie would position her as suddenly having become the absent parent that she resented Egon for years for being.
In Frozen Empire, she’s clearly the team’s new leader, and thematically, she’s also the comic-relief-relief, making sure the more serious aspects and ramifications of what the Ghostbusters are doing is not forgotten.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]I’d honestly rather see a new team in a series being set up with Ray and Winston guest starring for a few episodes to help them get set up.
[/quote]
That may still happen, depending on either the new animated series, or whatever Ghost Corps’ plans are.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]only IP I’ve seen where the fans have a better grasp of what the future of the story should be then the creators.
[/quote]
If I had a dollar every time I saw a fan write that. (No nastiness intended, just light-hearted jesting)
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204](not the yellow bumper stuff)
[/quote]
But that is the newest iteration of the Proton Packs, it would be a bit strange for a new team that’s been authorised by Zeddemore Industries not to use the updated version of the Packs developed by Winston’s engineers.
[quote=RealGhostbusterJay post_id=5008194 time=1769315271 user_id=48204]having to keep letting ghosts out of ECU every few films so they give the GB’s a reason to stay in business.
[/quote]
Frozen Empire established that New York (and the world) was seeing an increase in paranormal activity not related to Garraka’s presence, the Ghostbusters wouldn’t need the accidental release of the ghosts from the Containment Unit because they were already seeing an uptick in calls… It’d be like throwing a bucket of water into a river that’s already overflowing.
GB 4 - learning from the mistakes you’ve made, finding your place in the world (either as a teenager, a step-father, entering retirement or going through life with no direction), discovering your hidden inner talents.
[/quote]
Ok so…I have a lot to reply to the posts you made but really…I just don’t care enough about this film to argue. The film is poorly made, edited and in a lot of areas is a weak film. Doesn’t mean people can’t enjoy it. If you do then great. really but I was just answering a question on the post, wasn’t looking to bisect views of it.
as I said. I just answered a question. Others I’m sure are more interested in talking views but films are done so…not sure what can change by the discussion
(No nastiness intended, just light-hearted jesting)