Sony Animation and Netflix are reportedly teaming up to develop a new Ghostbusters animated film. The two companies are already working together on a Ghostbusters animated series, which was first announced back in 2022.
Deadline reports that the film is still early in development; however, it seems they've already found their director in Kris Pearn. Pearn is best known for co-directing 2013's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 alongside Cody Cameron. He also directed 2020's The Willoughbys.
Plot details are still being kept under wraps, and it's unclear if this animated film will tie into any of the recent Ghostbusters projects.
The supernatural comedy franchise, which began with the 1984 film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Following the disappointing 2016 reboot, Sony released the 2021 film Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Directed by Jason Reitman, Ghostbusters: Afterlife served as a sequel to the two original movies, Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989). It completely ignored the events of the 2016 failure, and featured Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, and Paul Rudd, alongside returning stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver who all reprised their characters from the earlier films.
Set 32 years after the events of Ghostbusters II, the story follows a single mom and her two kids who arrive in a small town after inheriting a farm from her estranged father Egon Spengler. As they soon discover, there's more to this farm than what meets the eye.
After numerous delays due to COVID, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was eventually released in theaters in November 2021. The film grossed $204.3 million worldwide, which was deemed a success thanks to its low budget. The movie received a mostly positive reception from critics who described it: "Ghostbusters: Afterlife crosses the streams between franchise revival and exercise in nostalgia -- and this time around, the bustin' mostly feels good."
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was followed by a sequel, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which was released earlier this year. Coon, Rudd, Wolfhard, and Grace all returned to reprise their roles alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton from the earlier films. Joining the cast were newcomers Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Emily Alyn Lind, and James Acaster.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is set three years after the event of Afterlife and sees the original Ghostbusters join forces with their successors to save the world from a death-chilling god in New York City. Released in March of this year, it received mixed reviews and grossed $202 million worldwide.
With this latest development of an animated movie, it's now becoming a bit complicated to track all of the current projects. More live-action movies are said to be in development along with the previously announced animated series. This new film will, of course, be inspired by the beloved IP, but we don't know if it will be connected to the previous work in any way.
The Ghostbusters franchise has a rich history of animation dating back to the 1980s with The Real Ghostbusters. This animated TV series acted as a spin-off and sequel to the 1984 film and followed Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, and Janine Melnitz as they investigated paranormal activity.
This series was followed by the Extreme Ghostbusters in the 1990s. This was a sequel to The Real Ghostbusters and featured a team of college-aged Ghostubsters led by Egon Spengler.