It looks like we’ll be getting the first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife on Monday. In the meantime, director Jason Reitman sat down with Vanity fair and the result is a slew of new pics and story details about the film. Here are some highlights of the big reveals.
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno) takes over filmmaking duties from his own father, Ivan Reitman, who directed the original two Ghostbusters films, and returns for this one as a producer. Afterlife “is a new adventure that connects back to the Manhattan Crossrip of 1984,” Reitman said, unlike the 2016 all-female reboot, which started its story from scratch and existed in a different storytelling universe.
“Manhattan Crossrip” is the technical term for that long-ago bizarre incident in New York involving an apocalypse-summoning skyscraper, a gargantuan killer marshmallow man, and four working stiffs who managed to fight back against an ancient Sumerian God named Gozer.
As to how the new cast features into things, it looks like the main story will most-likely revolve around the daughter and grandchildren of Egon. We can only hope that means Annie Potts will be the zany grandmother.
As the family arrives at an old farm, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters,” Reitman said. “Trevor and Phoebe are about to find out who their grandfather was and whether they’re ready to pick up the proton pack themselves.”
So, how does Paul Rudd fit into this?
Fortunately, they have a summer school teacher named Mr. Grooberson (played by Paul Rudd) who was a kid when the Manhattan Crossrip occurred. Although later generations may think of it as a myth, or not think of it at all, he remembers it obsessively and is excited to pass on what he knows.
Here we see the teacher stunned to be holding an actual ghost trap. It’s been a while since he’s seen anything like this, and never this close.
There’s a lot more in the article, but you can read it if you want, or keep the story fresh for when you see it on screen.
