Listen, I was not an easy mark for the Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer.
Like so many other geek-friendly properties, any interest I once had in the Ghostbusters franchise had been pretty much snuffed out following the endless whining that accompanied the last Ghostbusters movie. Somewhere in between all the screaming on social media, the seemingly bottomless well of angry commenters and, yes, the fact that Paul Feig's Ghostbusters was a mixed bag, I simply stopped caring. I needed no further Ghostbusters movies in my life.
But now we have the trailer for Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and I gotta be real: they got me interested again.
I'm guessing, based on this trailer, that at least two of the kids are related to one of the original Ghostbusters. I'm further guessing that whatever's in that underground laboratory is causing the earthquakes mentioned by kindly Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd), and that it'll be up to this ragtag group of small-town kids to get it under control, probably while using the OG Ghostbusters tech.
Is it quite nakedly a Stranger Things riff? I think so. Do we need another Ghostbusters movie? Probably not. Will I show up for this one? Oh, most definitely. I like the way this thing looks, and I'm curious to see what the actual ghosts look like this time around (it's clear there's still plenty of VFX work to be done before they start showing those off). If they manage to make this thing funny, as well, they might be onto something.
Here's an official plot synopsis:
"From director Jason Reitman and producer Ivan Reitman, comes the next chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind."
Reitman's Ghostbusters: Afterlife will hit theaters on July 10th, 2020. Y'all interested in this one? Not so much? Think this'll be a worthy successor to the original Ghostbusters, or should they have left well enough alone? Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for more on Ghostbusters: Afterlife as further updates become available.