Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director says original cast will be “actual characters” this time around

Last Updated on February 21, 2024

After making small, but vital, appearances in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the original cast of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson will return for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but this time, they’ll thankfully have bigger roles.

While speaking with SFX Magazine, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan promised that the original Ghostbusters cast will feel “more fully fleshed out” in the Frozen Empire. “That’s the moment that’s really thrilling for me as a Ghostbusters fan: watching their involvement in the story redefine itself, grow and become more fully fleshed out in a way that speaks to the promise of the original Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2, and what was glimpsed in the fields outside of Summerville in Afterlife,” Kenan explained. “There’s a direct line from there into who they are now and how they act here in our new story.“

The director said that the OG team would be treated as “actual characters” this time around, adding, “We had a duty to make those legendary characters integral to this story.“

Gil Kenan also said that audiences should prepare themselves for some pretty big scares to go along with those laughs. “This is a scary Ghostbusters movie, I set out to go for the thrills,” Kenan said. “As a big-screen experience, I think it’s going to play like a scary, funny movie. The secret is that the scarier a scene is, the funnier the next joke is going to play. That’s the way that the pendulum swings with tone. Twisting that lever to make sure that the scares land is a way of making sure that the jokes are funnier.“

Per the official Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire synopsis: “The Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.” In addition to the original Ghostbusters, the film also stars Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, and Annie Potts.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will hit theaters on March 22nd.