‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ is ‘funny, scary, fun’
For Jason Reitman, son of the late Ivan Reitman who directed the first (and second) Ghostbusters, stepping into the Ghostbusters franchise as the director of “Afterlife” meant truly embracing his role in the family business. And before his dad passed away, Jason was able to tell Ivan about his plans for “Frozen Empire”, his follow-up to “Afterlife.”
“We sat outside with my dad and we started telling him all our ideas for the next Ghostbusters movie,” Jason Reitman recalls. “We laid it all out for him, and it’s the last story that I ever got to tell my dad – the story of ‘Frozen Empire’, a new adventure for the ghostbusters back in Manhattan.”
Jason co-wrote “Frozen Empire” with his “Afterlife” co-writer Gil Kenan, who steps into the director’s chair for the new film. Jason holds producer credit with his father. In “Frozen Empire”, starring McKenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and more, 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 topsecret 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.
Dan Aykroyd, who returns to his role as Ray Stantz and executive producer of the franchise (he also co-wrote the two original films), says, “What really impressed me was the way Jason and Gil have continued the story in ways that feels drawn from the DNA we drew up in 1984. Ultimately, these were regular guys – and now, an ordinary family – who joke and tease and push each other, but they also save the world from terrifying spectral menaces and take that seriously. I love that combination on the big screen.”
As with all films in the franchise, “Frozen Empire” is designed to be an entry point for new moviegoers who have never seen a Ghostbusters movie before, and also satisfy diehards who have been at every opening day since 1984. “Ghostbusters changed my life as a kid – the unique blend of scares and comedy…I had never experienced anything like it in a movie theater before,” says director Kenan.
“What really got me was the fun of it all, the joy on screen,” continues Kenan. “It was that feeling, a thrill ride through the supernatural world around us, that inspired me in creating the tone of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.’ At times funny, at times scary, always fun. And not just for adult fans who like me grew up with the films, but for all audiences, including kids who will be the same age now that I was when I first saw Ghostbusters. Kids who I hope will discover in this film the same thrill of discovery in the world of Ghostbusters that I did in 1984.”
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International, hits Philippine cinemas starting April 10.