[One time]

And just to expand on part of that...I love the classic gear and car, but it's time for a refresh.

What made the first Ghostbusters so successful was grounding the film firmly in reality and contrasting that with the heightened absurdity of the supernatural. It's just not believable to see tech as old as rotary dial phones still in use in era with smartphones. Ghostbusters would constantly be upgrading their gear in real life. They'd be using readily available off-the-shelf parts or recent surplus to build and maintain gear, not hard-to-find components from the 20th century.

Men in Black had the good sense to show the technological progression of the neuralizer as a room-sized device in their time traveling MIB 3. Packs in this era should accordingly be smaller... or do a lot more with the same amount of space. The meters should be more than flashing lights. The car shouldn't be a literal antique.

I get that a lot of us here cherish the original tech—in large part because we spent so much time when we were younger studying it and trying to replicate it as props. But we risk the franchise losing relevancy if we're stuck in dogma about details like Clippard valves and banjo fittings.

Tech is integral to Ghostbusters stories. It's time to update. Ghost Corps either already has or should be able to find some designers that really understand what worked with the original aesthetics. Bring it all up to current day.

Agree 100%. We simply won’t be getting iterations of the original movies back and need to accept it. We have GB1, GB2 and AF that are the real OG trilogy in my opinion (or Gb1, Gb2, Gbtvg if you are that way inclined).

The proton pack interior in AF was absolute genius in my view it fit the ‘84 design perfectly.

Judging by FE it’s veered so far off the originals they can do whatever they want from now on. Have pink proton packs, etc. I wouldn’t mind any of it, as it would solidify the original and AF pack in cinema history, never to be messed with again.

Edit: I bought another ticket and saw FE in the theatre again to do my part to boost the figures in the hope of a new movie. It's all we can do.

[JonXCTrack]

And just to expand on part of that...I love the classic gear and car, but it's time for a refresh.

What made the first Ghostbusters so successful was grounding the film firmly in reality and contrasting that with the heightened absurdity of the supernatural. It's just not believable to see tech as old as rotary dial phones still in use in era with smartphones. Ghostbusters would constantly be upgrading their gear in real life. They'd be using readily available off-the-shelf parts or recent surplus to build and maintain gear, not hard-to-find components from the 20th century.

Men in Black had the good sense to show the technological progression of the neuralizer as a room-sized device in their time traveling MIB 3. Packs in this era should accordingly be smaller... or do a lot more with the same amount of space. The meters should be more than flashing lights. The car shouldn't be a literal antique.

I get that a lot of us here cherish the original tech—in large part because we spent so much time when we were younger studying it and trying to replicate it as props. But we risk the franchise losing relevancy if we're stuck in dogma about details like Clippard valves and banjo fittings.

Tech is integral to Ghostbusters stories. It's time to update. Ghost Corps either already has or should be able to find some designers that really understand what worked with the original aesthetics. Bring it all up to current day.

Agree 100%. We simply won’t be getting iterations of the original movies back and need to accept it. We have GB1, GB2 and AF that are the real OG trilogy in my opinion (or Gb1, Gb2, Gbtvg if you are that way inclined).

The proton pack interior in AF was absolute genius in my view it fit the ‘84 design perfectly.

Judging by FE it’s veered so far off the originals they can do whatever they want from now on. Have pink proton packs, etc. I wouldn’t mind any of it, as it would solidify the original and AF pack in cinema history, never to be messed with again.

Edit: I bought another ticket and saw FE in the theatre again to do my part to boost the figures in the hope of a new movie. It's all we can do.

I've read your posts One Time and I share your thoughts and feelings. I love Ghostbusters. I want it to exist and be popular again like it was in the mid 1980s. But Frozen Empire just left so much to be desired. I think I fell in love with its potential when I watched it the first time, rather than seeing it for what it actually is. I originally said it was a 75/100, but I think it really is more a 65/100. There's just so much that doesn't add up, and easy tweaks that I can think of that would improve it. I also went to see it three times to help boost the numbers because I want another film. Or at least I thought I wanted another one. But having thought on it some more, I think an animated series is really where it needs to go next. I'd set it in the future, with Phoebe being in her late 30s leading a new team of Ghostbusters. Maybe Trevor is a part of that team. Maybe not. Then maybe you could make another film, set in the future with these stablished characters from the animated series.

[gerard55]

The proton pack interior in AF was absolute genius in my view it fit the ‘84 design perfectly.

It does but there is a bit of an oversight with the design. When the Cyclotron cover is taken off we see directly behind the 4 circles on the pack are modules with CRT emitters that are placed on the rear side of each circle. Yet when the pack is powered on you can see a spinning cyclotron, despite the fact the modules behind each circle are blocking the direct view to the cyclotron. When the pack is on its clearly something physically spinning inside the pack, so it cant be those emitter lights going really fast to mimic the glowing cyclotron effect as its a physical spinning object intended to be the cyclotron disc.

It would make sense if the cover didn't have any of those modules with crt emitters on the backside and the circles are basically a direct window to the cyclotron, but that's not the case. The crt modules and emitters were obviously to give Phoebe something to repair and be interactive, but in context of the pack powering up and seeing the cyclotron spinning it doesn't make a lot of sense as the view of it would be totally blocked.

[gbraider82]

To me...Jason and Gil have really unfairly put the movie aspect into a corner now. Like others have said, if we do get another live action movie, it will be years from now...most likely once everyone has grown up thankfully...and then goes the big question, how much involved do Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson bring to the table? To the common movie goer, they may not go see it without any of the original crew in it at all and for them in it, brings in the the immediate claims of nostalgia.

I think having Patton, Kumail, Celeste and Logan a combination of them could work as long as the cast isn't too big and their roles are fleshed out. Still static characters, but given something to do.

I may be in the minority, but I'm not a fan of the Ghostbusters International idea. There are plenty of ways to expand the universe in the settings of New York City without it being an apocalypse type scenario.

Here is to hoping that Jason and Gil will take some time over the next 18-24 months and really think about the missteps they took with the FE script and try and make it better for a possible sequel and not try to make it radically different for the next one. Lots of ghostbusting yes...montages...I'm indifferent about...but I would like to have a creature be as bad as we all hoped that Garraka was where it shows up about 1/3 of the way in and starts terrorizing the city for a good part of the movie and the team has to figure out who or what is causing it.

[13th Floor]

Eek, so major point of contention. Do we really think they should get rid of Podcast, Trevor & Lucky? As opposed to giving them all fully fleshed out screentime and arcs next time round?

Podcast especially is a great character seriously underutilised in Frozen Empire - but his hammer was hilarious.

I’d go in the other direction - Gary & Callie are off on visiting his family (brief cameos) and the four younger cast members are manning the firehouse for the first time. Phoebe is lead but shares equal screentime with the others. Lucky has a bf so she and Trevor have frosty relationship they need to overcome to work together. Phoebe and Lars learning more about ghost lore.
Maybe roll out a competitor team (I maintain Ben Schwarz would suit this role so well) without bloating the cast, using the IDW storyline where they’re not correctly trapping ghosts and inadvertently causing bigger issues. No need for the OGB’s except Ray continues role as mentor.
Save some money for a ghost montage.
Keep a lighter tone with the team learning to work together and make the big bad smaller scale, kind of silly, not world ending.

GB1 doesn't have a major dramatic thread focused on one character so runtime can be balanced on the whole cast(even if Ernie Hudson got the short end of the stick)
Afterlife and FE positions Phoebe as a MAIN character so she has a dramatic arc and that takes time away from the other characters.Although if you kept the team as
Callie,Gary,Lucky,Podcast,Trevor,Phoebe you can balance it out fine.Problem comes when you have to add the OG cast.
In the hands of a good writer i think even a more crowded cast can still be memorable.Dungeons and Dragons movie was pretty funny and with memorable characters and the cast was kind of similar in size to the recent GB movies.
I just think Kenan and Jason struggle with writing Lucky and Trevor.They are the normal ones,Podcast is quirky at least.Callie is the quiet,pessimist.Gary is Paul Rudd playing the hits.
A future movie should either give Finn and Celeste some quirk to play with or make the fact they are quirkless the joke.But right now both in Afterlife and Frozen Empire they feel a bit aimless.Trevor in Afterlife at least was responsible for bringing the Ecto 1 back.In FE he has nothing to do.

[Jangonate]

I agree with going smaller in scale. Really embody an extended RGB style aesthetic and have a team investigate a haunted house or castle. Focus more on the investigation aspect of it and add a little mystery. You could still start the film with a more traditional bust and end it with some action and hijinks.

[Davideverona]

So, do you think we'll have a GB5 announcement on GB Day?

If not, I'll threat myself with some interesting Naked Gun 4 updates.

[Jangonate]

I don’t think we’ll see a GB5 announcement, though I would love to be proven wrong. My hope is that at least a formal reveal of the new Netflix drops. I wouldn’t say no to new toys, either.

[mrmichaelt]

So, do you think we'll have a GB5 announcement on GB Day?

If not, I'll threat myself with some interesting Naked Gun 4 updates.

Anything's possible. Probably more a focus on the animated movie and animated series they announced alongside Frozen Empire on that one GB day. I'm hoping we'll see a teaser reel or some artwork for them.

[zeta otaku]

I'd love to be proven wrong, but I doubt we'll get a GB5 announcement this June (if anything, we'll hear some news next year). I do hope we hear something on the animated front and more about figures and the Plasma line.

[Davideverona]

I'd be happy with just a "we'll start working on it soon".

[tylergfoster]

So, do you think we'll have a GB5 announcement on GB Day?

If not, I'll threat myself with some interesting Naked Gun 4 updates.

Anything's possible. Probably more a focus on the animated movie and animated series they announced alongside Frozen Empire on that one GB day. I'm hoping we'll see a teaser reel or some artwork for them.

I remain a little worried that these animated projects are going the way of "Ecto Force." If we'd seen more concrete progress on them, tangible stuff so we could know they were really in "go" mode, I'd be more confident they were real, but they sound just like "EF" in the sense that it's all talk so far. I'm sure they're being developed, but it wouldn't shock me if Sony had hedged their bets in both cases so that they could pull the plug if the movie they were basically orbiting didn't take off.

That said, much like the idea of a Ghostbusters 5, this time there is the X factor of how much they want Ghostbusters to happen. Maybe one or more of the animated projects will survive because it's something they haven't tried yet in the recent attempts to resurrect the franchise.

[mrmichaelt]

]I remain a little worried that these animated projects are going the way of "Ecto Force." If we'd seen more concrete progress on them, tangible stuff so we could know they were really in "go" mode, I'd be more confident they were real, but they sound just like "EF" in the sense that it's all talk so far. I'm sure they're being developed, but it wouldn't shock me if Sony had hedged their bets in both cases so that they could pull the plug if the movie they were basically orbiting didn't take off.

That said, much like the idea of a Ghostbusters 5, this time there is the X factor of how much they want Ghostbusters to happen. Maybe one or more of the animated projects will survive because it's something they haven't tried yet in the recent attempts to resurrect the franchise.

The marketing focus is on Frozen Empire for the time being and by June, they won't be as singularly focused on promoting just the movie. In the fervor of the 40th anniversary and Ghostbusters Day, I'm sure we'll start seeing at least some production designs if not a brief teaser reel. For now, Kenan mentioned he saw a whole presentation with art like environments have been made and scripts are being written. It feels like it's further along than Ecto Force.

[SpaceBallz]

So, do you think we'll have a GB5 announcement on GB Day?

[pda4ever]

Sony might not be hurting for money if they can help with an offer this high!
EDIT: Picture works on my phone but not the desktop - Headline is "Sony & Apollo offer $26B to buy Paramount Global"

[groschopf]

Reboot the franchise.

Same original characters. New logo. New gear. New car.

Hell, even Ghostbusters II gave us a variation on the logo and car, new gear, and new uniforms. It's long past time for something new.

I get that we wanted more sequels in this timeline sooner than we got them, but it's just jarring now seeing a sci-fi using forty-year-old technology. Hit the reset button just like Batman films do every so often.


old 88MPH case study art shown to illustrate the point

[tylergfoster]

Reboot the franchise.

Same original characters. New logo. New gear. New car.

Hell, even Ghostbusters II gave us a variation on the logo and car, new gear, and new uniforms. It's long past time for something new.

I get that we wanted more sequels in this timeline sooner than we got them, but it's just jarring now seeing a sci-fi using forty-year-old technology. Hit the reset button just like Batman films do every so often.


old 88MPH case study art shown to illustrate the point

I'm sure this will be a very popular idea that nobody will complain about.

[timeware]

If you can get look a like's like ERB did and do a TV series it can be done tastefully. An outright reboot wouldn't work I think. I can already see Netflix being accused of copying Stranger Things if that were to happen. LOL.

[SpaceBallz]

I'm sure this will be a very popular idea that nobody will complain about.

[joezlo]

There'll be more GB with current characters.

There's already been talk about International, which allows for a lot.

Also, with an expanded cast, things could still be happening in NYC.

I'm looking forward to what comes next.

[mrmichaelt]

Ernie Hudson talked about an idea he has
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/ghost ... ff-series/

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Thoughts on the continuation into a fifth mainline movie:

1. I love FE. But given the diminished returns and that we’re now 3 movies deep playing off the old iconography the next movie needs to be a fresher take. Move forward with this cast but maybe aim for a lighter tone.

2. I would guess we’re 4 years out from any sequel. I think “Afterlife 3 / GB5” should be less rushed, take time on the script and drop in 2028 at the earliest.

3. Jason & Gil producing / concepting, maybe bring back Gil as director - but get a fresh writing team on the script.

4. Focus on Phoebe, Podcast, Lucky, Trevor as the four Ghostbusters - any supporting characters should gravitate around them. They need more screentime, funny interactions / situations and more complex character arcs. The older cast could come back in smaller roles or cameos but we need less characters overall than in FE.

5. Focus on the comedy and storylines around busts and feature at least 3-4 smaller Slimer/Muncher esque ghosts that have different abilities and have sufficient screentime that you can market them and sell merch / toys!! Eg. Use Blinky or Brainy from Spirits Unleashed.

6. Finally explain and give concrete lore around ghost types and what happens to them eg containment unit or moving on. Establish rifts which would setup future movies / mini-series.

7. In terms of where the relationship arcs are going based on the first two movies, I would lean away from the current direction of travel to shake things up. For example… give Phoebe a girlfriend from the start and make it barely a plot point other than a subplot where eg. she’s too caught up in Ghostbusting and is neglecting her, Podcast and Phoebe work well together so don’t split them up necessarily but the dynamic between Podcast and Lucky could be funny.
Give Lucky a new boyfriend and have Trevor deal with that, fall for someone else.
Either have Gary & Callie marry or split them up, but don’t have them hanging around the Firehouse they’re surplus to requirements.

8. Bringing the Mini Pufts back as comic relief one more time is fine BUT do not, as has been foreshadowed, have them eg. join together to form another giant Stay Puft. That said, a monstrous, half-formed, mid-sized version could actually be cool… but the time to do that was Afterlife so I don’t how that would be explained in a third movie with Gozer trapped. Also… no more Gozer, please.

9. It’s unlikely but adapting any of these concepts from RGB into future live actions series or movie would be really solid:
- Sandman - NYC slowly filling up with spirits from people’s dreams. That has huge potential for frights and humour.
- Samhain - Eternal night, and folklore around halloween
- Doomsday door - speaks for itself
- Cthulhu - old gods would be interesting to explore plus… octopi!

10. Move some of the existing characters into a spin-off series like Ernie suggested.

[mrmichaelt]

Evidently, Reitman and Kenan did a live Q&A and commentary on Afterlife and they commented on the future. Report All Ghosts provided a summary and some quotes:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?stor ... xdFrTmGeEx

[gerard55]

Maybe NOT have the next movie be about yet another world ending threat that shows up a few minutes before the end of the movie? Or is that too crackpot a notion as that's basically been the blueprint for these movies for 40 years now.

Really the only one that kinda trumps that notion in GB2 as Vigo is around in painting\spirit form much earlier in the movie and basically throughout.

[GuyX]

Hey every1! Some of u may find this interesting.

The website deadline did a wide ranging interview with the head of Sony & a lot of IP’s & future movies are mentioned. Jason Reitman gets a mention, his SNL movie gets a mention. Missing is any mention of Ghostbusters. Not one syllable about an animated movie or live action sequel. Almost every other major Sony IP currently active gets a mention.

It’s a cool read. But I was bothered Ghostbusters doesn’t get a mention. A lot of a Sony’s successes get talked about & you’d think he’d bring up Ghosrbusters too. But nope.

https://deadline.com/2024/05/tom-rothma ... 235920644/

[RiverofSlime]

The Future should entail animation. I think Sony should have gotten that going immediately once Afterlife was considered a success.

[mrmichaelt]

The Future should entail animation. I think Sony should have gotten that going immediately once Afterlife was considered a success.

It was going to happen. We've seen them working on it around the mid-2010s then of course more recently I'd blame covid. They shelved animation plans to only focus on Afterlife during pandemic. Then when they announced Frozen Empire then FIREHOUSE, they 're-announced' the animated movie and animated series. But the thing with animation is it takes years to develop. So hopefully, the plan is the next movie is the animated one and for the show to last a few seasons to keep the IP in the zeitgeist while they take their time with developing the next live action movie.

[RiverofSlime]

The Future should entail animation. I think Sony should have gotten that going immediately once Afterlife was considered a success.

It was going to happen. We've seen them working on it around the mid-2010s then of course more recently I'd blame covid. They shelved animation plans to only focus on Afterlife during pandemic. Then when they announced Frozen Empire then FIREHOUSE, they 're-announced' the animated movie and animated series. But the thing with animation is it takes years to develop. So hopefully, the plan is the next movie is the animated one and for the show to last a few seasons to keep the IP in the zeitgeist while they take their time with developing the next live action movie.

Yeah, I get that. I've been a long for the ride on this too. I just wish it would happen already because I think it will lead to greater franchise sustainability. Real GB, The Video Game, these were all great things for the IP and didn't require the budget, red tape or risk of a big budget theatrical release.

Cartoons and merch. Let's get it going.

[mrmichaelt]

Yeah, I get that. I've been a long for the ride on this too. I just wish it would happen already because I think it will lead to greater franchise sustainability. Real GB, The Video Game, these were all great things for the IP and didn't require the budget, red tape or risk of a big budget theatrical release.

Agreed. The pandemic and strikes didn't help get things going. And of course the animation guild could be striking, too, but I haven't kept up on it lately. Hopefully the animation gets a mention on Saturday.

[RiverofSlime]

Yeah, I get that. I've been a long for the ride on this too. I just wish it would happen already because I think it will lead to greater franchise sustainability. Real GB, The Video Game, these were all great things for the IP and didn't require the budget, red tape or risk of a big budget theatrical release.

Agreed. The pandemic and strikes didn't help get things going. And of course the animation guild could be striking, too, but I haven't kept up on it lately. Hopefully the animation gets a mention on Saturday.

I saw today that there is a animated series tying into TMNT Mutant Mayhem, which came out less than a year ago, providing a great contrast, if an imperfect one.