Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a 2024 American supernatural comedy film directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jason Reitman. It is the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), the fourth mainline installment, and the fifth film overall in the Ghostbusters franchise. The film stars Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O'Connor, and Logan Kim reprising their roles from Afterlife, alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton reprising their characters from the earlier films. Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Emily Alyn Lind, and James Acaster also join the cast. Set three years after the events of Afterlife, the veteran Ghostbusters must join forces with their recruits to save the world from a death-chilling god in New York City who seeks to build a spectral army.

Following the success of Afterlife, Sony Pictures announced the sequel in April 2022, with Reitman returning as director. Co-writer and executive producer Kenan later took over as director that December, with Reitman staying on as a co-writer and co-producer. That same month, Rudd, Coon, Grace, Wolfhard, O'Connor, Kim, Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson, Potts and Atherton were all confirmed to reprise their roles. New cast members including Nanjiani, Oswalt, Lind, and Acaster were announced in March 2023, with principal photography commencing that month and wrapping in June. Dario Marianelli was hired to compose the film's score, replacing Afterlife composer Rob Simonsen. This is the first film in the Ghostbusters franchise to be released following the death of the franchise's co-creator and Jason Reitman's father Ivan Reitman, who posthumously receives credit as a producer alongside his son and Jason Blumenfeld. The film is dedicated to Reitman's memory and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first film.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire had its world premiere at the AMC 13 Theater at Lincoln Square in New York City on March 14, 2024, and was released in the United States on March 22, by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but generally positive feedback from audiences, and has grossed over $201 million worldwide.

Plot
Three years after the events in Summerville, Oklahoma, Callie Spengler, her boyfriend Gary Grooberson, her children Trevor and Phoebe, and their close friends Lucky Domingo and Podcast, relocate to New York City to aid Winston Zeddemore and Ray Stantz in reestablishing the Ghostbusters. After the group captures a ghost from Hell's Kitchen in Lower Manhattan, Walter Peck, the Ghostbusters' long-time opponent, threatens to close them down with his authority as mayor.

To appease Peck, Callie removes underage Phoebe from the team. Upset, the teen attempts to control her emotions by playing chess in a nearby park, where she encounters and befriends Melody, a teenage girl's ghost who died in a fire.

Meanwhile, Ray and Podcast are collecting cursed objects for examination. Nadeem Razmaadi visits and sells them a strange brass orb with ritual markings written in Mesopotamian Arabic inherited from his grandmother. Ray determines it is an apotropaic trap due to copper alloys typically being used in rituals against the supernatural since the Bronze Age.

When Ray evaluates its PKE levels, the orb immediately emits broad-spectrum psionic energy. A cold wave travels from the orb to the Ghostbusters' firehouse headquarters and damages the ecto-containment unit, which is almost at capacity.

Winston takes the orb to his privately owned paranormal research center, run by Dr. Lars Pinfield. Using an experimental extraction device, he is unable to extract any spiritual energy from it. The orb's captive psychically sabotages one of the center's ecto-confinements, allowing a ghost to escape and hide in Podcast's equipment.

To learn more, Lars joins Trevor and Lucky to see Nadeem, who reveals that the orb was kept hidden by his grandmother within a brass-lined chamber. Peter Venkman, brought in to help, discovers Nadeem has latent pyrokinetic powers.

Meanwhile Ray, accompanied by Phoebe and Podcast, visits Dr. Hubert Wartzki, a New York Public Library research librarian. Wartzki explains the orb was built over 4,000 years ago in Southwest Asia by four sorcerers called the Firemasters to imprison Garraka, a phantom god who sought to conquer the world with an undead army who would use "Kusharit Umoti" – "the power to kill by fear itself."

Nadeem's grandmother belonged to the lineage of Firemasters, one of whom prevented Garraka from escaping the orb in 1904 during a mock ritual conducted by members of the Manhattan Adventurers' Society, whom he froze to death. Garraka was confined in the orb due to being vulnerable to brass. This, combined with fire, and the removal of his horns trapped him within the orb.

When the trio attempts to stop the escaped ghost from stealing a phonographic recording of the club's ritual, Peck exploits Phoebe's involvement to shut down the Ghostbusters. After an argument with Gary and her mother, Phoebe runs away and takes Melody to Winston's research center. She uses his extraction equipment to project herself as a ghost for two minutes so the pair can physically interact.

Melody reveals she had been secretly working with Garraka, who has offered her passage to the afterlife. By controlling Phoebe's disembodied spirit, Garraka forces her physical body to recite the ritual chant. He then escapes, locates his horns, and begins freezing the city.

Realizing Garraka will free the ghosts in the containment unit after freeing ones from the center, the Ghostbusters gather to defend their headquarters. They are aided by Nadeem, who dons the Firemaster brass armor kept by his grandmother and attempts to master his powers.

Garraka overpowers them and breaches the containment unit. Phoebe electroplates Egon Spengler's proton pack with brass to strengthen it; Melody, betrayed by Garraka, atones by helping Nadeem utilize his powers to weaken Garraka. Ray, with help from his fellow veteran Ghostbusters captures Garraka by improvising the ruptured containment unit as a giant trap.

Melody reconciles with Phoebe before departing for the afterlife to reunite with her family. As the city thaws, the Ghostbusters are hailed as heroes again, with Peck forced to support the team and reinstate Phoebe. The Ghostbusters begin pursuing escaped ghosts across New York City.

In a mid-credits scene, a trucker gets out of his Stay-Puft Marshmallows branded truck to make a purchase from a vending machine, while the Mini-Pufts steal his vehicle in his absence.

Cast
Additionally, Kevin Mangold and Ian Whyte serve as the puppeteers for Slimer and Garraka, respectively, though the latter's voice performers were uncredited. Shelby Young and Ryan Bartley also appear uncredited as the voices of the Mini-Pufts, tiny versions and replicated forms of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, with Young returning from Afterlife.

Development
Following the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife in November 2021, Dan Aykroyd expressed interest in having the surviving cast of the original Ghostbusters team reprise their roles in up to three sequels. In April 2022, it was announced that a sequel to Afterlife was in early development at Sony Pictures.

In June 2022, the film was confirmed by director Jason Reitman under the working title Firehouse. That same month, it was announced that the sequel would take place in New York City. On October 5, 2022, Mckenna Grace announced that she would reprise her role. The following month, Ernie Hudson revealed he had read a script for the film.

In December 2022, it was announced that Gil Kenan would take over as director from Reitman, who remained as a writer and producer. It was also announced that Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and Carrie Coon would return. In March 2023, it was announced that Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, James Acaster and Emily Alyn Lind had been cast in the film. Lind's role was established in secrecy during pre-production. She met Reitman, Kenan, and casting director John Papsidera, and was not aware that she had the role until shortly before filming.

According to Nanjiani, the filmmakers drew inspiration from the animated series The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991), noting they "wanted to make a long episode of the animated series".

Instead of a Motorola MT-500 as seen in previous iterations, the controversial Baofeng UV-5R ham radio was used as a prop.

Filming
Principal photography began on March 20, 2023, in London, under the working title Firehouse, with Eric Steelberg serving as the cinematographer. On April 25, 2023, Hudson indicated that Aykroyd, Murray and Potts would reprise their roles from previous Ghostbusters movies in the film; Aykroyd confirmed he would return for the sequel in June 2023.

Filming was spotted in New York City, where Casey Neistat was caught filming a stunt scene in a video posted on June 7, 2023, while documenting the effects of the 2023 Canadian wildfires in New York City. Filming wrapped on June 23.

Music
On January 18, 2024, Dario Marianelli was confirmed to compose the film's score, replacing Afterlife composer Rob Simonsen. This marked Marianelli's second collaboration with Kenan after A Boy Called Christmas (2021). He recorded his score on the Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage in the John Williams Music Building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City. The original film's composer Elmer Bernstein's son, Peter Bernstein, returned as score consultant, after doing so for Afterlife. In addition to using some of the elder Bernstein's original scores on some of the film's scenes, the song "Ghostbusters", which was performed by Ray Parker Jr., is heard during the film's end credits. Other songs "Home on the Range", arranged by Kenan and Reitman, "Melano" by Caino x Jun R.O.T., and "Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia are used in the film.

On March 7, 2024, Japanese girl group Atarashii Gakko! released a track called "Ghostbusters: Frozen Summer" as a collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan.

Marketing
On November 8, 2023, Sony released the first teaser trailer, which officially revealed the title as Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, as well as revealing the synopsis for the film.

Theatrical
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was scheduled to be released on December 20, 2023, but was delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike and rescheduled for March 29, 2024 (taking over the original release date of Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse). The film had its world premiere in New York City on March 14, 2024, and was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on March 22, 2024.

Home media
In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the film's theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window, and included Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and past Ghostbusters films. Disney signed for "pay 2 windows" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and/or Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was released digitally on May 7, 2024, and on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 25, 2024. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will be streaming on Netflix in the US on July 22, 2024.

Box office
, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has grossed $113.4 million in the United States and Canada and $88.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $201.8 million.

In the United States and Canada, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was released alongside Immaculate and Late Night with the Devil, and was projected to gross $43–45 million from 4,345 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $16 million on its first day, including $4.7 million from Thursday night previews, slightly topping Afterlife's $4.5 million. It went on to debut at $45 million, landing between the opening weekends of Ghostbusters ($46 million in 2016) and Afterlife ($44 million in 2021), topping the box office, and pushing the Ghostbusters franchise past the $1 billion mark. Deadline Hollywood credited Sony's marketing efforts for boosting the opening weekend, but suggested that the franchise would perform better if it returned to the original movie's focus on "wall-to-wall humor" and "big comedy stars." In its second weekend the film made $15.7 million (a drop of 65%), finishing second behind newcomer Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Critical response
It is the lowest-rated installment in the franchise on the site. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 80% overall positive score, with 64% saying they would recommend the film.

Jake Wilson of The Age gave it 2.5/5 stars, writing: "Aykroyd and Grace are the soul of the thing, to whatever degree a soul exists. At this point, Aykroyd has shed any pretense of ironic distance, emerging as the mournful weirdo he surely always was." CNN's Brian Lowry called it "a very busy movie that lacks the emotional hook of its predecessor while spending too much time on the wrong characters in a way that yields a rather lifeless, chilly affair."

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, writing that it "carries the same endearingly goofy, science-nerd spirit of the first film and delivers a delightful balance of slimy ghost stuff, sharp one-liners, terrific VFX and a steady stream of callbacks to various characters, human and otherwise, from the 1984 movie." Jake Coyle of the Associated Press gave it 2.5/4 stars, saying that it was "A significant upgrade from Afterlife" and "a breezier, more serviceable sequel that has a modest charm as an '80-tinged family adventure."

Future
In February 2024, Kenan revealed that ideas for multiple future films in the Ghostbusters franchise had been discussed. Kenan specifically mentioned the Mini-Pufts storyline as something he and Reitman would like to expand upon. The Mini-Pufts are featured in the film's post-credits scene.