The Ghostbusters franchise is iconic and so too are the ghouls that have taken centre stage in these movies. The likes of Gozer, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, and Slimer all instantly come to mind and, in this March's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, we'll meet a brand new big bad.
According to Empire Online, one of the new antagonists is called the Sewer Dragon, but the main villain will be the mysterious horned monster responsible for the Death Chill which engulfs New York City.
According to director Gil Kenan, he embraced The Real Ghostbusters animated series for inspiration when it came to dreaming up a new baddie. "[The show had] wild, original and weird-as-[frick] villains," he says. "We wanted to bring that show’s looseness and fearlessness to this movie. I think it’s going to surprise people just how big this film is."
"John Hughes was a big touchstone," adds co-writer and producer Jason Reitman. "That thing of a family in a station wagon, living in a crumbling home, the teenagers kicking back against their parents. [Finn Wolfhard’s] Trevor’s 18 now, so he’s like, 'I’m an adult!'"
"We wanted that Royal Tenenbaums thing of a family living on top of each other...but in the Ghostbusters’ Firehouse. We see the Firehouse way more than in any previous Ghostbusters film. What’s it like to sleep there, do laundry there? What’s the attic like?"
In exploring the team's HQ, we'll also meet James Acaster's Lars Pinfield, the brains behind the new tech which is funded by Winston. "James is not playing a Spengler, but he really falls in line with the Egon Spengler 'type,'" Reitman says with a laugh.
Some new stills from the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel have also been released which you can see in the X posts below.
In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, 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.
However, 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.
The movie stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Bill Murray. Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan penned the screenplay, while the latter will direct.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire arrives in theaters on March 22, 2024.