Who knew that ghostbusting is a family business? Jason Reitman, the director best known forJunoandUp in the Air, announced that he will helm a newGhostbustersfilm, continuing the franchise that his father, Ivan, launched in 1984.
According to rumors, Reitman’s sequel focuseson two brother and sister pairs,including a 13-year-old boy who is a dedicated conspiracy theorist and a 12-year-old girl who struggles with “interpreting and expressing emotions.” The four kids will get wrapped up in supernatural shenanigans after moving “back home to a small town” where all kinds of ghostly secrets await,We Got This Covered reports.
As fans have noted, that summary makes Reitman’sGhostbustersfollow-up sound an awful lot like Netflix’s paranormal drama,Stranger Things. If the latest casting news holds up, expect those parallels to get even stronger.Varietyreports thatStranger Thingslead Finn Wolfhard, who also fought monsters inIt, is in talks to star inGhostbusters. Actress Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, Fargo, Avengers: Infinity War) is also being tapped for a role in the film, in which she’ll most likely play Wolfhard’s struggling single mom.
Less than 24 hours afterGhostbusterswas announced, the project got its first teaser trailer (see above), courtesy ofEntertainment Weekly. The brief video opens on a dark and stormy night, with some mysterious flashes of light coming from a far-off barn. As the camera enters the barn, a tarp blows off the vehicle it was covering to reveal the Ghostbusters’ iconic car, the ECTO-1.
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Jason Reitman’s film will not be a reboot or a sequel to 2016’s female-drivenGhostbusters: Answer the Call, but will instead continue the story that started in the elder Reitman’sGhostbustersandGhostbusters 2.
“This is the next chapter in the original franchise,” Jason Reitman toldEW. “What happened in the ’80s happened in the ’80s, and this is set in the present day.” The movie is scheduled to begin filming this summer in anticipation of a 2020 release.
Neither Sony Pictures nor Reitman shared any details about the film’s plot, including whether or not original Ghostbusters Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson will return for the sequel. Harold Ramis, whostarred inGhostbustersand its sequel as Egon Spengler, died in 2014.
Jason Reitman, along withMonster Housedirector Gil Kenan, wrote the newGhostbustersscript in secret before presenting it to his father, who will serve as one of the film’s producers. “It will be a passing of the torch both inside and out,” Ivan Reitman said.
Ghostbusters, which chronicles the adventures of three academics who open a paranormal extermination business, was an instant hit when it came out in the summer of 1984. Paul Fieg’s recent revamp didn’t fare quite as well. Despite an all-star cast,Ghostbusters: Answer the Calltook a$70 million lossat the box office, scuttling Sony’s plans for a sequel.
Franchise creator Aykroyd has been trying to get a sequel to the first twoGhostbustersfilms off the ground since the ’90s with little success, although the original cast did reunite forGhostbusters: The Video Gamein 2009.
Despite that,Ghostbusterscontinues to flourish, withvirtual reality attractions,Pokémon Go-inspired mobile games, andcomic bookskeeping the brand alive. Reitman’s sequel isn’t the onlyGhostbustersfilm on the slate, either: Sony is developing ananimatedGhostbustersfeature,although that won’t come out until after Reitman’s sequel hits theaters.
Updated on June 13, 2025: Added Finn Wolfhard and Carrie Coon casting information.
