Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel gets a December 2023 release date

About three weeks ago, Sony announced that they have given a greenlight to a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (watch it HERE), with Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman returning to direct from a screenplay he is writing with his Afterlife co-writer Gil Kenan, and now Sony has announced a release date for this sequel. It’s set to reach theatres on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was released on November 19, 2021 (after several delays that were caused by the pandemic) and went on to earn around $200 million at the global box office on a budget that was around $75 million. A Christmas release might help the follow-up do even better.

Reitman and Kenan have said that the sequel will follow the Spengler family (Carrie Coon as mom Callie, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace as her kids Trevor and Phoebe) as they leave the small town setting of Afterlife behind and return to Manhattan.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Kenan said,

We’re writing as quickly as we can. We had the story before we finished Afterlife. And we have been crafting this with as much care as it took to build Afterlife into a worthy sequel.”

The returning Afterlife characters will be joined in the film by Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore, as

The character of Winston Zeddemore and Zeddemore Industries figures strongly into the future of Ghostbusters.”

Reitman and Kenan are also working with Dark Horse Comics on a Ghostbusters comic book series that will bridge the gap between the events of Afterlife and the new sequel. Reitman said,

When we first talked about Afterlife three years ago at Ghostbusters Day, our hope was that it would lead to all kinds of great storytelling, that it wouldn’t be a one-off film, but the opening of a door. And today, that promise comes true. If you’re a Ghostbusters fan, you’re about to have access to all different decades of Ghostbusters history as well as the future, characters you haven’t met yet, and places you haven’t gone yet. If you’re a Ghostbusters fan, you’ve got a lot coming your way.”

We’ll keep you updated on the progress of the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel as the project continues to move forward towards its release date. Are you happy to hear that it’s getting a December 2023 release? Let us know by leaving a comment below.