Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman isn’t done with the franchise yet as he is developing a new animated TV show. The latest installment in the sci-fi comedy franchise acted as a revival of the series, picking up the story 32 years after the events of Ghostbusters II and shifting its focus to single mother Callie and her two kids, Phoebe and Trevor. The family are the descendants of Harold Ramis’ original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler and move into his rundown Oklahoma farmhouse after his passing, only to learn of his investigation into a new supernatural threat in the small town.
Mckenna Grace led the cast of Ghostbusters: Afterlife as Phoebe alongside Carrie Coon as Callie, Finn Wolfhard as Trevor, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim and Celeste O’Connor. The film did see the returns of franchise vets Bill Murray, Dan Ayrkroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver, as well as original producer Ivan Reitman, who handed the directing reins to his son, Jason. Ghostbusters: Afterlife debuted to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and audiences alike and was a modest box office success, grossing over $204 million against its $75 million production budget and reaffirming Sony’s confidence in the franchise’s future.
Announced during the streaming platform’s Geeked Week, Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation are partnering for a new Ghostbusters animated TV show. The project is being developed by Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman, who will executive produce the series with co-writer Gil Kenan. A the time of writing, story details are being kept under wraps on the new Ghostbusters animated show.
The upcoming Netflix series marks the third time the Ghostbusters franchise has tried its hand at the small screen, which first began with the late ’80s show The Real Ghostbusters. Running for seven seasons, the series received largely positive reviews and would spawn the spinoff sequel show Extreme Ghostbusters, which wasn’t as well-received and was canceled after just one season. Sony previously attempted to develop a new animated show entitled Ghostbusters: Ecto Force in 2016 that would be set in the year 2050, though this was canceled after that year’s female-fronted reboot flopped at the box office and led to the studio shifting franchise plans around.
News of an animated Ghostbusters TV show also comes a couple of months after Sony confirmed a new movie was in the works at CinemaCon, though are keeping story and cast details under wraps. With Jason Reitman having expressed interest in continuing the franchise, be it with the original Ghostbusters team or the young stars introduced in Afterlife, it seems possible that the animated series will allow the filmmaker the chance to expand one such team in the story he and Gil Kenan put forth. Audiences can catch up with Ghostbusters: Afterlife available to stream on Starz now.
