While previous reports have suggested that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire would take heavy inspiration from the widely popular 1980s animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, today’s exclusive from Empire includes comments from director Gil Kenan, further cementing these claims, as the cartoon show was said to have served as a point of reference for the upcoming sequel’s ice-cold spectral threats, writes Ghostbusters News‘ Jason.
By now, you likely know that in Frozen Empire, Slimer will make his long-awaited return to the big screen, but joining the gluttonous vapor will be the Death Chill’s mysterious horned creature, and as first shown as part of the recent poster reveal, the Sewer Dragon. But according to Kenan, this is just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended), as the director would refer to The Real Ghostbusters, calling the slime-hurling monsters and villains of the series “wild, original and weird-as-f***.”
“We wanted to bring that show’s looseness and fearlessness to this movie… I think it’s going to surprise people just how big this film is.”
Producer and co-writer Jason Reitman would also chime in, speaking on other film influences, including those from John Hughes and Wes Anderson, saying:
“That thing of a family in a station wagon, living in a crumbling home, the teenagers kicking back against their parents. [Finn Wolfhard’s] Trevor’s 18 now, so he’s like, ‘I’m an adult!'” Reitman would continue, “We wanted that Royal Tenenbaums thing of a family living on top of each other… but in the Ghostbusters’ Firehouse. We see the Firehouse way more than in any previous Ghostbusters film. What’s it like to sleep there, do laundry there? What’s the attic like?”For more from the filmmaking duo of Kenan and Reitman, along with the cast of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, be sure to grab your copy of the March issue of Empire when it arrives on newsstands this Thursday, January 18th, available as two different glow-in-the-dark connecting covers.
WATCH: Trailer for Radio Silence’s Abigail is so much scary fun!
One of the big parts of the Ghostbusters lore that is now sadly missing is Harold Ramis’ Egen Spengler and, even though there are now three members of his family in the movie, we really feel that the new team needs a new Egon and now we know that British comedian James Acaster will be playing Lars Pinfield, one of the scientists behind some of the new gear being developed and financially backed by Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore. Producer and co-writer Jason Reitman would proclaim while laughing, that “James is not playing a Spengler, but he really falls in line with the Egon Spengler ‘type'”
To go alongside Acaster’s somewhat character reveal, we’re given a clear look inside the Ghostbusters‘ new engineering division, with Pinfield appearing to probe The Golden Orb, an artifact likely to play a key role in the film’s plot, being included as part of Funko’s Ray Stantz POP! vinyl figure.
Also, we need to touch on what’s transpiring within the photo’s background as we see the return of Ghostbusters II‘s Slime Blower. While we knew that the prop was on set thanks to videos from various social media influencers, today’s preview confirms its more-than-likely big-screen return.
Other character name reveals came as part of the new Empire article, with Patton Oswalt confirmed as Dr. Hubert Wartzki, while Kumail Nanjiani will play Nadeem Razmaadi.
New Empire covers give us epic new looks at Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Shifting the focus to the fledgling Ray’s Occult Books, returning character Podcast (Logan Kim) has been said to have developed a mentor relationship with Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), with Aykroyd saying: “Ray and Podcast are buddies – Ray’s a mentor to him… He’s renting Ray’s basement to shoot an Instagram series called ‘Repossessed,’ where people bring in objects they think are haunted.”
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And finally, in the last bit of character news, with the Spenglers now in New York City, star Mckenna Grace ensures that Phoebe is very much “in her element,” adding that “she’s now ghostbusting on a totally different scale to what she was doing in Oklahoma.”
For more from the cast of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the March issue of Empire arrives on newsstands this Thursday, January 18th, available as two different glow-in-the-dark connecting collectible covers, with pre-orders available here.
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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