Photo by: Willian Justen de Vasconcellos / Unsplash

If you're a fan of the original 1984 Ghostbusters or the 2016 remake because of their inherent hilarity and kitsch, then you may not love the new trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

The new film, directed by Jason Reitman and written by Reitman and Gil Kenan, stars Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Carrie Coon, and Paul Rudd, while Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts return in their roles from the 1984 film. The trailer is decidedly dark, even sad at times, as it depicts a single mother (Carrie Coon) and her two children (Grace and Wolfhard) retreating to their recently inherited family patriarch's rickety old farm house. As the town is thrown into disarray by unexplained earthquake-like occurrences, the children start to uncover relics of their late-grandfather's past, such as a ghost trap and, eventually, the car from the original Ghostbusters movie.

It all adds up to hint at a darker, less-comedic, more heartfelt addition to the beloved franchise.

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE - Official Trailer (HD)youtu.be

A surprise teaser trailer dropped today for a previously unannounced Ghostbusters sequel. The new film is slated for summer 2020, and will be directed by Jason Reitman, best known for Juno and Young Adult.

Reitman is a natural choice considering his father, Ivan Reitman, directed the original. In a sense, he's like Ghostbusters royalty. Reitman co-wrote the screenplay with Monster House and Poltergeist (2015) director Gil Kenan, and the elder Reitman is slated to produce.

As of now, it's unclear what characters will compose the main cast, and whether or not the original Ghostbusters will make an appearance. It's also unknown how long after the original Ghostbusters this movie is set, but the teaser certainly brings up some questions.

Namely: why is the Ghostbusters vehicle being stored in a long-forgotten barn?

However, some people's excitement is tempered due to proverbial slime still lingering amongst the Ghostbusters fandom.

The notoriously toxic reactions to Paul Feig's female-centric reboot, Ghostbusters (2016), encompassed slews of sexist rhetoric from the fandom, alongside a targeted harassment campaign of actress Leslie Jones led by the alt-right.

In fact, some people are still going on about it now, using the new movie as a jumping board to take shots at the last one.

This is leading others to, once again, call the Ghostbusters fandom into question.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Reitman clarified, "I have so much respect for what Paul created with those brilliant actresses, and would love to see more stories from them. However, this new movie will follow the trajectory of the original film."

We'll have to wait for more information as we get closer to the 2020 release, but in the meantime, you can watch the teaser trailer above.


Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com


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