After Sony Pictures announced at CinemaCon back in April that a sequel to last year’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife is coming, we now know exactly when it will arrive – 20 December 2023, just in time for Christmas next year.
Afterlife director Jason Reitman is returning, as is co-writer Gil Kenan, and they confirmed earlier this month that, as hinted in the end credits of the 2021 film, the live-action sequel will head back to the original movie’s roots of New York City and the firehouse setting. “At the end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the Ecto-1 is driving into Manhattan, returning to its home,” Reitman told The Hollywood Reporter in a previous interview. “And before anyone ever heard the title Afterlife, we called it Rust City. Which would not have made sense to anyone until they saw the movie. The code name for the next movie is ‘Firehouse’.”
The high-profile pre-Christmas release date shows Sony’s confidence in the sequel, spurred on by Afterlife surpassing $200 million at the global box office despite being released in the midst of the pandemic. There is also an animated sequel in the works, though we don’t know any more details about that just yet. It’s likely Afterlife stars Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace will return, though that’s not confirmed – nor whether we’ll see the original Ghostbusters stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd or Ernie Hudson again. The franchise’s return will be all the more poignant given that the original movie’s director, Afterlife producer, and Jason’s father, Ivan Reitman, passed away earlier this year.