Ghostbusters: Afterlife Release Date Delayed Three Months To June 2021

Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s release date is delayed three months to June 2021. The upcoming sequel, which is set in the same continuity as the first two Ghostbusters movies, entered 2020 as one of the year’s most anticipated films. With Jason Reitman, son of Ghostbusters helmsman Ivan Reitman, calling the shots on a new installment, there was much excitement to see how this new film could continue the story while also honoring what came before. A Ghostbusters: Afterlife teaser trailer hinted at a compelling cross-generational narrative, and Sony clearly had high hopes for the project by positioning it as one of their summer tentpoles.

Of course, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was one of many 2020 titles pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the earliest days of the ongoing global health crisis, Sony made the move the delay all of their summer 2020 films to next year, initially shifting Ghostbusters: Afterlife to March 2021. More recently, several studios are continuing to shuffle their slates, with Disney and Warner Bros. choosing new dates for upcoming movies. Now, Sony is the latest to make some changes, making the wait for Ghostbusters: Afterlife a little longer.

Sony officially announced Ghostbusters: Afterlife will premiere on June 11, 2021. No reason was given for the latest delay, but the studio did point out that’s the same weekend the original Ghostbusters film debuted back in 1984, so that could have been a factor.

With this change, Sony gets to keep Ghostbusters: Afterlife as one of their summer blockbusters, bolstering a lineup that already included Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Uncharted. Interestingly, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was debuting two weeks prior to a different Sony/Marvel film – Morbius – in its previous slot. It’s arguably strange the studio would position two franchise installments that close together, especially since it’s unknown what the theatrical landscape will look like in a post-COVID world (even in 2021, theaters may not be fully safe for people). With that in mind, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Sony wanted greater separation between their movies, but for now they feel like Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be able to peacefully coexist at the box office without cannibalizing each other too much.

As it stands, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the only major release scheduled for its new window, meaning it should be able to do well in its opening weekend. Assuming the 2021 calendar stays the same, it won’t have to go head-to-head with a busy May roster that includes Black Widow, Godzilla vs. Kong, and F9. That said, there is no guarantee Ghostbusters: Afterlife sticks to this date. Daniel Craig is merely hopeful No Time to Die can come out next April, so it’s definitely possible there could be more changes down the line, depending on how the pandemic progresses over the next couple of months. Hopefully, things will improve in 2021 and theaters can welcome big new releases on a weekly basis again.