Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is moving the franchise in a direction it really should have taken years before. Despite the original 1984 film being so iconic, the Ghostbusters movie franchise has always struggled with forward momentum. The first film was produced during an era where sequels were somewhat rare, so it took five years to get the cast to agree to reunite for one. Following this, Bill Murray’s continued reluctance and various other issues meant another film didn’t follow until 2016 reboot Answer the Call, which failed to lead to a direct follow-up.
Frozen Empire following 2021’s Afterlife is by far the quickest sequel turnaround in the saga’s history. After decades away, the franchise is finally returning to the iconic firehouse, where different generations of Ghostbusters must face a supernatural threat that could lead to a new ice age. After the smaller scale of Afterlife, Frozen Empire is moving the Ghostbusters back to blockbuster territory – and away from a formula that past sequels have become trapped in.
Frozen Empire Being Like A Long Episode Of Real Ghostbusters Is A Positive Step
Ghostbusters can’t keep remaking the first movie
One newcomer to Frozen Empire’s cast is Kumail Nanjiani, whose exact role has yet to be announced. The actor took to Twitter to state that animated series The Real Ghostbusters was a “point of reference” for the new entry and that the filmmakers were aiming to make a “long episode” of the show with Frozen Empire. This is hugely exciting news as the cartoon is partly responsible for keeping the franchise alive during the long delays between movies.
It also promises something fresh, since most of the follow-ups that followed the original have fallen into the habit of recycling its formula. Instead of featuring the team assembled and bustin’ ghosts, they always have to involve a group of Ghostbusters being formed and learning to work together first. Since they were both reboots of a sort, Answer the Call and Afterlife fell into this pattern, but even the first half of Ghostbusters 2 involved the team having to restart the business.
When Frozen Empire begins, the Ghostbusters are back in business and (somewhat) ready to deal with whatever supernatural fiends threaten New York. This is already an exciting development, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s trailer already proves it will be more colorful and fun than the weirdly somber and reverential tone of Afterlife.
The Real Ghostbusters Monster Of The Week Formula Can Keep The Movies Fresh
Frozen Empire looks totally different from Afterlife
While The Real Ghostbusters had its share of mediocre episodes, it had some great ones too. Part of what kept Real Ghostbusters fresh was its “Monster of the Week” formula, where the titular team would have to face a new threat each episode, be it The Sandman, Samhain, Ghash and many more. Another thing that’s held the later films back is they keep pulling visual inspiration from the 1984 film, be it reusing entities like Gozer or Slimer or repeating classic moments, but Frozen Empire is offering a unique new foe for the team to battle.
Assuming the sequel succeeds, the same formula that kept the animated show running for seven seasons could serve the movie franchise very well. Frozen Empire is visually distinct from Afterlife, so the next outing should do the same and feature a new antagonist and environment. So long as the films serve up the right balance of comedy and horror, the future of the series is looking bright.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Could Be A Turning Point For The Franchise
The new sequel will prove if Ghostbusters is still a blockbuster franchise
Frozen Empire drawing inspiration from The Real Ghostbusters is the kind of back-to-basics approach the property needs, but it also marks a potential turning point. After the financial disappointment of Answer the Call, Afterlife itself only turned a modest profit in 2021. The key difference there is it cost significantly less to produce than its 2016 counterpart, but Frozen Empire will be the outing that truly tests if Ghostbusters is still popular with modern audiences.
Afterlife at least had the hook of being a legacy sequel that reunited the surviving cast, but Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire must prove the series can survive beyond nostalgia. It has the dual task of needing to make the new heroes as compelling as the original crew while appealing to longtime fans and newcomers. If it fails to meet expectations, it might put the franchise on ice for good.
