Empire Has Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom Images and Information
Ecto-1 is revving up for the premiere of Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom in March, but in the meantime, Empire is here to tide you over. The British film magazine has exclusive images from the upcoming sequel, plus some information on the movie from the actors and director, as well as co-writer and producer Jason Reitman (son of the original Ghostbusters director, Ivan Reitman). Ernie Hudson, who returns as Winston Zedmore, explained Winston’s role in the new incarnation of the Ghostbusters:
“Winston’s a wealthy guy now, and he’s funding research into new technology and the science behind ghostbusting… When the world is threatened… Who you gonna call? He suits up with the rest of them.”
Dan Aykroyd, who plays paranormal true believer (grounded in science, of course) Ray Stanz, is equally enthusiastic about his character’s role in the film:
“Ray’s been retired! He’s got fitness problems, insurance problems – Winston’s the shot-caller now and he decides Ray should step back from the ghostbusting frontline and just be an advisor. Ray does not like this. Gozer’s gone, but there’s an equally terrible threat emerging from Queens – by way of the Indus Valley – and Ray wants to be out there, driving the Cadillac.”
I like the idea that Winston is in charge now. Winston is the only one of the Ghostbusters (by which I mean the original Ghostbusters) who isn’t a scientist; he’s just a regular Joe who walked in because he was looking for a job and the Ghostbusters happened to be hiring. That makes him more of an audience surrogate than the other three; Winston is who we would be in that scenario, thrown into a world where science meets the supernatural and needing to have it explained to us with a Twinkie metaphor. (On that score, he’s also got one of my favorite lines in the movie: “If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.”) Now, he’s rich, and he bought the defunct Ghostbusters business, so he can run things while the scientists do science. The idea that he and Ray (and Peter Venkman, probably) should be hanging back and acting as advisors is great because they don’t want that as much as we don’t want that; everyone wants to see the Ghostbusters be the Ghostbusters. This angle makes me much more interested in Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom.
Speaking of Venkman, while Bill Murray isn’t on hand for the Empire article, Jason Reitman talks a bit about Murray’s involvement in the film:
“Bill had always been hesitant [about coming back to Ghostbusters], and for good reason: his bar for greatness is very high… But he loves Gil and has history with him [on 2008’s City Of Ember], so there was no question he’d be here [for Frozen Empire].”
“Gil” refers to Gil Kenan, the director and co-writer with Reitman of Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom. Kenan doesn’t have much of a résumé, but aside from the above information, he says some interesting things about his approach to the movie:
“Not a day went by when I didn’t ask myself, ‘How would Ivan handle this?’ I wanted that same approach to character, comedy and scares he had on the first two Ghostbusters. This one feels more connected to those movies than Afterlife was.”
That’s good news. I thought Afterlife was okay, but I didn’t like some of the narrative choices they made – which are the same ones a lot of these long-removed sequels make, like bringing back the old villains and replicating the old movies’ plots. But I’m glad they’re moving on, and it seems like the real Ghostbusters will have more to do this time as well.
Now, for the images. First is one Empire released, featuring Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson as Peter and Winston:
The next one features Bill Murray and Paul Rudd, the latter of whom returns from Afterlife:
I like this one. It looks like the older generation – both of Ghostbusters and comedy in general – mentoring the younger one. It helps that I love both of these actors.
The final few haven’t officially been released online, but a Twitter account called GB Universe News has them:
More from the huge @empiremagazine feature! I love the look of this film. It’s got that Real Ghostbusters vibe which I dig but it also looks to be adding something fresh while also not forgetting where it came from. March 22nd 2024, I’m in.
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👻#Ghostbusters #FrozenEmpire pic.twitter.com/vMKY8Q6Zk1— GB Universe News (@GBUniverseNews) January 18, 2024
Slimer looks great in that shot, more polished than some of the ghosts in Afterlife. The rest are just shots of the characters, which is fine. But the quotes have my attention more than anything, and I think I’m now looking forward to Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom.
Thanks again to Empire for the images and news!
