[Nate Dawg]

We all enjoyed the film but we're realistic when it comes to how it performed. Unsure why you brought up the team I'm on instead of just me.

On the first point I don’t think you’re being realistic because generally theatrical runs are underperforming with a few breakout hits. Sony had some major losses so they still need the Ghostbusters IP. Nobody expected a sequel to Afterlife, yet here we are. I also suspect these movies were even cheaper than advertised. It’s highly likely Frozen Empire has turned a small profit and at the very least kept the IP alive for another few years. The streaming figures show it is popular. The reason I think we’ll see a third movie: Gil and Jason want it, we haven’t had a formal announcement the team is moving on, we have a young cast who are now aging into adult roles. And mostly, because they just announced the Netflix series is entering production. An animated movie is in the pipeline. Until they start cancelling projects, I am confident at this point we will get a third movie with Phoebe & co.

I don’t think the MB team have acted like they enjoyed the movie, they’ve been very vocal on social media about it’s “failure”. I don’t know if there’s bts factors at play, but it was a notable reaction. I guess your response reminded me of that but nothing personal!

When you say nobody expected a sequel to Afterlife, what do you mean? I’m surprised to see someone say that since, if memory serves, they were talking about a sequel before the movie even came out. Right? That happened or am I crazy? I sure as heck expected a sequel. What company makes a one and done movie these days unless it’s a relative failure?

I’m not a pro about this but from what I’ve read usually the opposite of what you are saying about the costs of the movie is true. It tends to be more. Plus we can’t forget, Afterlife and Frozen Empire got caught up in delays due to COVID and the strike. We know Frozen Empire had some reshoots post strike too. Why do you think it’s less? The budget was suppose to be 100 million right? What about that number doesn’t seem right? What number do you think it is? Then there’s marketing too right. But I don’t know. I’m not an expert. I can’t look at a film and tell what costs what. It is true Hollywood tends to lie about these things.

When you think about it it’s nuts that any movie turns a profit when you look at the math and how much they cost. Of course the big superhero movies can turns a profit but the economics are insane. If movie that costs 80 million and makes 250 million it could theoretically still lose money

I’d love to see another movie but I don’t see how they can make it work with the numbers. Especially when you see those streaming numbers. Any good business person will see there’s something happening where people don’t want to spend money and leave the house to see a Ghostbusters movie. Unless Ghostbusters becomes a streaming franchise? But as I mentioned, this is a problem they need to solve.

I don’t want this to happen but it seems like Sony’s best bet to make more money is to wait 5 years and just reboot or remake the movie. Just forget it all and start fresh? Cast new Venkmans Winston’s, Egon’s and Rays.

Or maybe combine the answer the call and Afterlife cast? I feel critics would rip that apart though as a desperate move for a desperate studio.

[timeware]

There isn't a way to combine the cast of Afterlife and ATC without making ATC part of the official universe. They could bring them back as brand-new characters, but it would have to be written by different people to make it fit. I wouldn't be opposed to that but it's not likely happening.

[deadderek]

We all enjoyed the film but we're realistic when it comes to how it performed. Unsure why you brought up the team I'm on instead of just me.

On the first point I don’t think you’re being realistic because generally theatrical runs are underperforming with a few breakout hits. Sony had some major losses so they still need the Ghostbusters IP. Nobody expected a sequel to Afterlife, yet here we are. I also suspect these movies were even cheaper than advertised. It’s highly likely Frozen Empire has turned a small profit and at the very least kept the IP alive for another few years. The streaming figures show it is popular. The reason I think we’ll see a third movie: Gil and Jason want it, we haven’t had a formal announcement the team is moving on, we have a young cast who are now aging into adult roles. And mostly, because they just announced the Netflix series is entering production. An animated movie is in the pipeline. Until they start cancelling projects, I am confident at this point we will get a third movie with Phoebe & co.

I don’t think the MB team have acted like they enjoyed the movie, they’ve been very vocal on social media about it’s “failure”. I don’t know if there’s bts factors at play, but it was a notable reaction. I guess your response reminded me of that but nothing personal!

I still don't get why you brought the team up at all a couple posts ago. The team as a whole enjoyed the movie, but they're not on this forum. Please explain.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Not starting a beef, because I appreciate your posts Derek, but the pessimism was eye-roll inducing.

And the MGB social media response was overly negative to the point it appeared to me to be almost willing the movie to fail but with the plausible deniability of being concerned fans.

I read someone say there was some salt about the group not being included which I have no way of knowing if true and certainly not accusing you personally of being dishonest, but all I can say to everyone is … we are very obviously getting a third movie with Phoebe Spengler. You can hold me to that and I will accept a community spirited forfeit if it doesn’t happen.

I can see them waiting until the animated series is done and maybe getting a new writer and creative team on board. So it can be a mini relaunch after Frozen Empire. But it would be just as plausible they already have plans for a follow-up in say, 2027/28.

When you say nobody expected a sequel to Afterlife, what do you mean? I’m surprised to see someone say that since, if memory serves, they were talking about a sequel before the movie even came out. Right? That happened or am I crazy? I sure as heck expected a sequel. What company makes a one and done movie these days unless it’s a relative failure?

I’m not a pro about this but from what I’ve read usually the opposite of what you are saying about the costs of the movie is true. It tends to be more. Plus we can’t forget, Afterlife and Frozen Empire got caught up in delays due to COVID and the strike. We know Frozen Empire had some reshoots post strike too. Why do you think it’s less? The budget was suppose to be 100 million right? What about that number doesn’t seem right? What number do you think it is? Then there’s marketing too right. But I don’t know. I’m not an expert. I can’t look at a film and tell what costs what. It is true Hollywood tends to lie about these things.

When you think about it it’s nuts that any movie turns a profit when you look at the math and how much they cost. Of course the big superhero movies can turns a profit but the economics are insane. If movie that costs 80 million and makes 250 million it could theoretically still lose money

I’d love to see another movie but I don’t see how they can make it work with the numbers. Especially when you see those streaming numbers. Any good business person will see there’s something happening where people don’t want to spend money and leave the house to see a Ghostbusters movie. Unless Ghostbusters becomes a streaming franchise? But as I mentioned, this is a problem they need to solve.

I don’t want this to happen but it seems like Sony’s best bet to make more money is to wait 5 years and just reboot or remake the movie. Just forget it all and start fresh? Cast new Venkmans Winston’s, Egon’s and Rays.

Or maybe combine the answer the call and Afterlife cast? I feel critics would rip that apart though as a desperate move for a desperate studio.

Based on the lukewarm performance of Afterlife I don’t think folks in general expected a sequel. Maybe just me. It did well word of mouth and streaming. Frozen Empire is also performing well at home.

I just think they’re very frugal productions and they look great but perhaps naively I don’t think they look like they cost the budgets advertised - just a gut feeling. That FE got greenlit suggests Afterlife was profitable despite a lot of noise that it was barely breaking even and had underperformed.

I don’t think we’ll see the OG recast or rebooted and I don’t think they’ll combine ATC with the current team… tbh that would be among the worst directions they could take things and I’d hate it. Happy for an independent ATC sequel but that won’t happen either.

[mrmichaelt]

I am hopeful the animated series will generate the same goodwill and keep the i.p. in the public sphere in the same way RGB did for Ghostbusters in the interim years that led to Ghostbusters II. Frozen Empire's success on Netflix is a good sign for the animated series. Jason and Gil very likely have their third movie mapped out and will the end of their sequel trilogy. Whether that's before or after the animated movie, who knows. But once their third movie is out, I think that's the end of the story they wanted to tell and like they've said in past interviews will to step back in a producer role and let other filmmakers come in and play in the sandbox.

[timeware]

Depending on the animation style it would be nice if the toys/action figures look like the actual show. If the show/movie is well received a constant presence for the franchise in the toy section, and grocery section of supermarkets would be kind of awesome. Yeah, it would be kind of nice if Netflix were to put up RGB again in the mean time.

[Nate Dawg]

Based on the lukewarm performance of Afterlife I don’t think folks in general expected a sequel. Maybe just me. It did well word of mouth and streaming. Frozen Empire is also performing well at home.

I just think they’re very frugal productions and they look great but perhaps naively I don’t think they look like they cost the budgets advertised - just a gut feeling. That FE got greenlit suggests Afterlife was profitable despite a lot of noise that it was barely breaking even and had underperformed.

I don’t think we’ll see the OG recast or rebooted and I don’t think they’ll combine ATC with the current team… tbh that would be among the worst directions they could take things and I’d hate it. Happy for an independent ATC sequel but that won’t happen either.

Interesting. I remember there being a lot of talk at the time how COVID bought the movie a lot of latitude because audiences weren’t really fully ready to go back to theaters.

I think you are right that these are frugal productions. The problem is we are use to seeing this massive 200-300 million dollar behemoths so it makes judging what these smaller movies cost a little more difficult. You aren’t use to seeing too many 100 million dollar budgets anymore.

I still they think they could make one of these for even less if they cut down on the VFX. If the original movie had something like 180 visual effects in the movie? Why do we need over 1,000 in 2024? When I read numbers like that my jaw hits the floor. Somehow, to me, the original film still feels the most “epic” yet they did more with less.

I guess a lot of those effects went into making London feel like New York. You have to assume these people know what they are doing but I still can’t make sense of that. It cost less to film in London, build everything to look like New York and spend a fortune on CGI? It must. But it’s counter intuitive.

So long as Sony keeps paying the bills for Ghost Corp and keeps things active I have faith. I just hope we never experience the doldrums of the 2000s again. After Extreme Ghostbusters we didn’t get a Ghostbusters anything until, what? The video game? Can that be right?

That’s a 12 year gap of nothing. Those were the dark times of the long long ago. Spoken only in myth. Fan turned on fan. We were so desperate for content, we made our own films. One even put the word “Milk” in the title. I did things, unspeakable things, to keep my fandom alive. I watched…no. I can’t say it. It’s too painful. Okay. Here it goes. I cheated on Ghostbusters with…the OTHER Ghostbusters.



Harold & Ivan forgive me.

[Davideverona]

What about this for a new movie.

People are expecting the new team to be more and more involved. Well, do the opposite!

Start the movie with the Spengs in action, something goes awry, they disappear and it's up to the old GBs to step in, carry the movie on their shoulders and save the day one last time.

You do a poster with the same pose of the first one, pay Murray to be at his Murray-est and so on.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

I mean… so many reasons why that won’t and shouldn’t happen two new movies deep.

[timeware]

Agreed. Going back to the OG's probably isn't in the cards. Maybe a couple of wavy lines.

I can see the new film starting with Bill dropping Nadeem off at the research center saying something like he did in the Video Game "Remember, your parents are proud of you. Don't run with scissors, don't start fires, and play nice with the other kids." Then that being Bills final cameo, or they bring him around for the final bust. Phoebes doing her college thing trying to put together a team, but I don't see a major plot for the OG's just very small final scenes. Podcast could be running the Occult book store by then. I would see Winston still having a presence bank rolling Phoebes college tuition and making money off of her inventions.

[BatDan]

Oddly enough, it can still be in the cards..its either we go all-in on a Grumpy Old Ghostbusters chapter (which can work..these veteran actors know how to carry a movie well) or we minimize them even more like Afterlife. Call me crazy but id vote the former.

Theres a good story there: It be interesting to see a little more of what we got in the staircase scene. How do these quirky guys handle being older and having to mange their company as veterans?

You can still have the new cast around. It just the focus just slightly shifted.

Id like a scene with an OG tagging along with the newbies out on a routine call.

The library chase was close to that. But id like to see Winston and Peter trap a day-job ghost together with the new cast. Never got to see Winston in action on a dayjob in the original films, so it be cool to give him that.


If you go the route were going and we only utilize the Ogs for the last act material..it start to get redundant.

[mrmichaelt]

You can still have the new cast around. It just the focus just slightly shifted.

Id like a scene with an OG tagging along with the newbies out on a routine call.

But id like to see Winston and Peter trap a day-job ghost together with the new cast. Never got to see Winston in action on a dayjob in the original films, so it be cool to give him that.

I agree it would be a welcome sight to see Winston on a bust but I don't know if he can. I'm sure his lawyers advise not to. He is a well known rich man now. Bystanders, clients might try to sue him. It's probably more likely an OG in the field with them would be Ray. Golden years. Janine would be rad but I think she only suited up in FE because it was all hands on deck and wouldn't do it on a normal basis, but then again... RGB, EGB, and IDW Janines...

[Kingpin]

I think we can assemble a picture of Winston's mindset from Frozen Empire and Afterlife. I believe as far as Winston's concerned, barring a world-threatening event like Gozer's return or Garraka's attempt to freeze the planet, he's retired from being a field-operative Ghostbuster.

Looking back at his argument with Ray after the debacle at the Library, it seems natural to believe part of the reason he got so angry with Ray was because he was scared about what could've happened to Ray, Phoebe and Podcast had things taken a far nastier turn. I'm sure that Egon's death has left Winston (and the others) a bit more reflective on their own mortality, and the fact they aren't in their 30s anymore.

As the coda in Afterlife showed, Winston's grateful for the lessons being a Ghostbuster taught him, but he probably has no desire to go back out into an environment that routinely slimed him and had him working hours all around the clock when he has his family, his company and his friends to focus on.

It would be great to see Winston do more field work as recompense for his reduced screen time in the other films, but in the end, Winston seems perfectly happy to assist the Ghostbusters in an operational and philanthropical role, rather than in a Pack-wearing role.

[mrmichaelt]

I think we can assemble a picture of Winston's mindset from Frozen Empire and Afterlife. I believe as far as Winston's concerned, barring a world-threatening event like Gozer's return or Garraka's attempt to freeze the planet, he's retired from being a field-operative Ghostbuster.

Looking back at his argument with Ray after the debacle at the Library, it seems natural to believe part of the reason he got so angry with Ray was because he was scared about what could've happened to Ray, Phoebe and Podcast had things taken a far nastier turn. I'm sure that Egon's death has left Winston (and the others) a bit more reflective on their own mortality, and the fact they aren't in their 30s anymore.

As the coda in Afterlife showed, Winston's grateful for the lessons being a Ghostbuster taught him, but he probably has no desire to go back out into an environment that routinely slimed him and had him working hours all around the clock when he has his family, his company and his friends to focus on.

It would be great to see Winston do more field work as recompense for his reduced screen time in the other films, but in the end, Winston seems perfectly happy to assist the Ghostbusters in an operational and philanthropical role, rather than in a Pack-wearing role.

All good points, but uh, still wish he had more screen time. We've seen what a lot of screen time for Ray was like in Frozen Empire and Aykroyd had one of his best performances in years. I'd like to see that for Winston. But then that's a bit of a quandary. I suppose he could show up at the Firehouse like in Spirits Unleashed, be the spokesperson talking to the reporters, peeking his head into the PRC seeing what's going on. Some other things they could easily explore of is Zeddemore Industries and his wife and children.

[timeware]

I can easily see Winston grabbing onto the publics positive reception for their capture of Garaka, using this momentum of good will to unseat Peck as Mayor. Whether or not he runs for office could make for a good plot line.

[mrmichaelt]

I can easily see Winston grabbing onto the publics positive reception for their capture of Garaka, using this momentum of good will to unseat Peck as Mayor. Whether or not he runs for office could make for a good plot line.

That's another good idea. Next election would be 2025 a year after events of FE. By the next movie, there could potentially be a new person as the mayor if Peck doesn't get reelected or eyes a higher office to run for like many do and even with Lenny in GB2 eyeing a run for governor.

[Chicken, He Clucked]

Tangential but relevant: Jason and Gil’s Saturday Night early reactions / reviews are overwhelmingly positive, some calling it his best movie. If that translates to box office / awards then this is indirectly very good news for future Ghostbusters.

[timeware]

Maybe we'll get a live action adaptation of lights, camera, haunting out of all this.

[BatDan]

I think we can assemble a picture of Winston's mindset from Frozen Empire and Afterlife. I believe as far as Winston's concerned, barring a world-threatening event like Gozer's return or Garraka's attempt to freeze the planet, he's retired from being a field-operative Ghostbuster.

Looking back at his argument with Ray after the debacle at the Library, it seems natural to believe part of the reason he got so angry with Ray was because he was scared about what could've happened to Ray, Phoebe and Podcast had things taken a far nastier turn. I'm sure that Egon's death has left Winston (and the others) a bit more reflective on their own mortality, and the fact they aren't in their 30s anymore.

As the coda in Afterlife showed, Winston's grateful for the lessons being a Ghostbuster taught him, but he probably has no desire to go back out into an environment that routinely slimed him and had him working hours all around the clock when he has his family, his company and his friends to focus on.

It would be great to see Winston do more field work as recompense for his reduced screen time in the other films, but in the end, Winston seems perfectly happy to assist the Ghostbusters in an operational and philanthropical role, rather than in a Pack-wearing role.

I gotchu…but my idea is exactly what youre putting down.

I think it be fun to see the next movie shift focus on the OGs. Not in action-packed roles; but in overseer roles; not far from what they were in Frozen Empire before they put the packs on the last act.

Theres a whole other “movie” there from what little bits we got in Frozen Empire.

Think of the silly banter of spitballing between Ray, Peter, Winston and Janine about what exactly the qualifications are in applying.

Lets see them pull the legs up to keep the company at an efficient self-running level before finally stepping back. I wanna see hiring scenes, on boarding, training, and testing scenes.

It be the latter day “inverse” of the first act of GB1 (honestly where the movie is most strongest) where Gb1 was a “going into business” movie, this would be a “managing a business” movie.

Of course, all the action would be the new hires/afterlife cast, maybe 1 OGB. The rest of the OGs can presence in the action could be via intercom/walkies like in TVG.

Idk. I feel like weve said all we can say with the Spengler story at the forefront—shifting focus would be the way to go while still keeping them around.

[Kingpin]

Idk. I feel like weve said all we can say with the Spengler story at the forefront—shifting focus would be the way to go while still keeping them around.

Demote Phoebe, Trevor et al. into secondary roles so Peter, Ray and Winston and can be made the primary focus? Doesn't that seem a bit of a backwards step, seeing as the last two movies have been serving as the franchise passing on the torch?

I appreciate and respect there's still a strong desire to see the original Ghostbusters headline their franchise again... I don't disagree that their current circumstances aren't the ideal of what people had wanted for years, but when the original characters are too old to be realistically running around chasing ghosts in New York... The quasi-realistic response, like Extreme Ghostbusters is to bring in a new team of young Ghostbusters.

Winston handling the politics and financing, Ray handling the occult lore, and Peter handing the psychological sides of things is a step down from zapping and trapping ghosts, but it's the natural thing for them to do now that they've largely aged out of active field duty... The new roles they got to play in the company worked great for exposition and expanding the world of Ghostbusters in multiple angles... But they aren't enough to be the basis of an entire Ghostbusters film.

So I'm going to have to politely disagree Dan, the Spenglers have to remain forefront. That doesn't mean you can't still have the original Ghostbusters remain a part of the universe for as long as their actors are happy to keep playing those roles, but the younger team needs to be there to do the physical stuff Peter, Ray and Winston/Bill, Dan and Ernie can't do anymore...

Especially as it's a realistic possibility in the next few years that we might see Bill, Dan or Ernie probably choose to retire from acting, if not actually pass away... Fates forbid.

[mrmichaelt]

Heiko von Drengenberg posted Library ghost and Ecto-1 storyboards the past few weeks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_R2khVxNU-/

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_cCcEpxPNs/

[timeware]

So I'm going to have to politely disagree Dan, the Spenglers have to remain forefront.

Do they though? I can see a standalone movie focusing just on the Zeddemore's with a follow up to close Phoebes story.

[JonXCTrack]

So I'm going to have to politely disagree Dan, the Spenglers have to remain forefront.

Do they though? I can see a standalone movie focusing just on the Zeddemore's with a follow up to close Phoebes story.

I don't see why the Spenglers have to be the focus of every movie from here on out. I want to know more about Winston and his family. Why didn't Ray have a family? What's up with Venkman, Dana, and dare I say, Oscar? In my view, the next film should take place overseas - let's say Europe. Why not have Gary, Callie, Lars, and Nadeem be the team for that outing? You can have a few NYC scenes with Ray and Phoebe in the PRC or the Occult Bookstore conducting research to help the team. I don't know how you shoehorn Winston into it. Maybe he drops the gang off at the airport to take his private jet over to Europe.

[GuyX]

Heiko von Drengenberg posted Library ghost and Ecto-1 storyboards the past few weeks.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_R2khVxNU-/

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_cCcEpxPNs/

I don’t understand why they made their main Ghostbusting sequence a lesser version of the scene from Afterlife. I kno ppl bitch about GB2 being a copy cat but @ least they added another ghost to make the sequence more dynamic.

We go from 1 of the best busting sequences of all time in Afterlife to prob the least exciting & interesting, IMO.

It would’ve been much more exciting to see this thing play out from the start. Call comes in, “we got 1”, ALARM, down the poll, suit up, doors open, Ecto OUT. Maybe even have them go underground in sewers for a bit. Let’s see a bust start as 1 kinda bust & end as another. Right? Have them trap 1 ghost. Then oops. That was ghost jr we trapped & now mamas angry. Mama ghost chases Ecto & movie plays out as it does now.

I didn’t feel the energy here. It felt by the numbers. All the previous busts feel like a triumph. This felt like going through the motions a bit.

[Kingpin]

Do they though? I can see a standalone movie focusing just on the Zeddemore's with a follow up to close Phoebes story.

Well yes... They're the new standard-bearers for the franchise who the torch is being passed/has been passed to.

The Ghostbusters franchise isn't like the MCU, or Star Trek where there's fertile ground for a lot of spin-offs (and given how some people are voicing loud discontent with spinoffs, perhaps a spinoff film is not a solid strategy). I don't feel Winston's personal circumstances are strong enough to carry its own movie, as a lot of his personal focus will be on running his business empire, rather than doing Ghostbusters stuff. Also there's no indication yet that his family is involved in the family business.

Likewise I don't think Ray or Peter's personal lives have enough going on to justify spinoff movies. I would like to hear something about whether Oscar has regular contact with Peter and Dana, and if he's in New York, but again, I don't feel it's justification to have "ZEDDEMORE: A Ghostbusters Story", "STANTZ: A Ghostbusters Story" or "VENKMAN: A Ghostbusters Story" movies.

I don't see why the Spenglers have to be the focus of every movie from here on out.

We've had them headline two movies now, they're an established aspect of the Ghostbusters franchise which the cinema-going public is hopefully familiar with now. Also story-wise, they cut their teeth in helping to save the world from Gozer's return, and Phoebe discovering her calling fills the hole in the Ghostbusters brain trust that was created when Egon died.
Conversely, does it feel a rational or solid franchise building/expanding strategy to suddenly reset everything by dropping them for a host of new characters?

The Spenglers have been used not only to revive the franchise, but to also introduce it to a new audience, I think they've earned the right to remain present in the film franchise when, as I've said before, they are able to do the acting and physical stuff that the original cast are too old to do any more. I'm not saying the original cast should be put out to pasture... But we've been here before with, Extreme Ghostbusters, new characters to have to step up to the plate when the old ball players step down.

I want to know more about Winston and his family. Why didn't Ray have a family? What's up with Venkman, Dana, and dare I say, Oscar?

I'm not opposed to a look into Winston and Peter's family lives, as long as it's worthwhile from a storytelling point.
As for Ray, he may well be happy living a bachelor life, his first love being exploration of the paranormal. Not everyone needs to settle down, get married and have kids.

In my view, the next film should take place overseas - let's say Europe.

Why should it be set overseas?

Why not have Gary, Callie, Lars, and Nadeem be the team for that outing?

Gary's smart, but he's not Spengler smart. Having Pheobe and Trevor (and Podcast and Lucky) also increases the potential demograph appeal of the film.

Beyond that, there's no guarantee Nadeem will actually joing the Ghostbusters. I'm not opposed to it, but the story justification has to be there.

You can have a few NYC scenes with Ray and Phoebe in the PRC or the Occult Bookstore conducting research to help the team. I don't know how you shoehorn Winston into it. Maybe he drops the gang off at the airport to take his private jet over to Europe.

The issue I immediately see with that proposal is it kinda feels like a "Marvel spinoff", where it's set in the same universe as the MCU, but it only has enough money to justify a brief cameo by some characters, rather than have them in for the majority of the runtime.

[WCat2000]

I think we should be introduced to Ray and Winston’s families. I’d like for Ray to have gotten married and had at least 1 kid. I think it’s sad if he stayed single all this time. They don’t have to be GB though. The Spenglers and some combination of Podcast, Lucky, Lars and/or Nadeem should remain the core team.

I would love for the next movie to take place somewhere else. That’s one of the reasons I really liked Afterlife. I’ve said it before but ghosts and supernatural entities can be anywhere. To be confined to NY doesn’t even make sense. There’s plenty of cool and creepy places they could go with different folklore.

Considering neither Afterlife or FE was shot in NY except a few portions I don’t think the budget for a different location would be a problem.

[Kingpin]

To be confined to NY doesn’t even make sense.

Ghostbusters Inc. still comes across as a relatively small-scale company, even with the addition of the PRC and its researchers. They might just be able to send some Ghostbusters out to handle a small job outside of New York State, at the risk of leaving the home team understaffed, but international jaunts are still probably a little beyond their current staffing levels.

It actually makes a lot of sense that they're still primarily New York-based. The turtles, gargoyles, Spider-Man, and the employees of Planet Express still end up spending a good chunk of their time in the Five Boroughs... And New York has oodles of potential for paranormal stories that the Ghostbusters franchise has barely even scratched the surface of.

[timeware]

As for Ray, he may well be happy living a bachelor life, his first love being exploration of the paranormal. Not everyone needs to settle down, get married and have kids.

Ray's just the kind of Ghostbuster to have dated a Ghost. It would probobly explain why he was kicked out of the New York Libraary and why Twitty was so pissed off when she saw him walk by. Lol. (It would also explain why he doesnt have kids.)

[WCat2000]

To be confined to NY doesn’t even make sense.

Ghostbusters Inc. still comes across as a relatively small-scale company, even with the addition of the PRC and its researchers. They might just be able to send some Ghostbusters out to handle a small job outside of New York State, at the risk of leaving the home team understaffed, but international jaunts are still probably a little beyond their current staffing levels.

It actually makes a lot of sense that they're still primarily New York-based. The turtles, gargoyles, Spider-Man, and the employees of Planet Express still end up spending a good chunk of their time in the Five Boroughs... And New York has oodles of potential for paranormal stories that the Ghostbusters franchise has barely even scratched the surface of.

I mentioned the idea in another topic I think the Spengler’s could out of state in a mobile GB headquarters, like an RV. Whoever stays behind can still take calls and run things in NY. Obviously it would be written so nothing catastrophic happens while they’re away.

I agree they could still do more storylines in NY but I think a change of setting also helps so we see something different rather than the same big city. It would give it a different feeling. There’s a lot of places with scary history.

It’s true other characters typically stay in NY but with TMNT they’ve traveled to Japan and not just in Part 3. Also Space. Not suggesting the GB goto space. The reason they stick to NY is because Shredder and the Foot are also based in NY...so of course other villains conveniently end up there too.

[mrmichaelt]

Like I keep saying, they pretty much laid out the template for how Ghostbusters could expand beyond New York in the IDW comic canon. They on occasion took on out-of-state cases and went cross country in their Ecto-2 outfitted RV and Ecto. They barely managed to set up one franchise in Chicago. They had a support staff that suited up when needed for all-hands-on deck or to cover for the original team. They had a FBI liaison who later headed her own Paranormal Response Task Force tasked with the investigation of potentially dangerous supernatural situations in all U.S. territories on an as-needed basis, to determine whether direct intervention (via the Ghostbusters or otherwise) was required. They got tricked into briefly going international by an immortal warlock.

In the movie canon, these could eventually be explored. An on-the-road movie with various cases in other cities might be a tough sell. Setting up new franchises and new casts of characters an even tougher sell. But the most feasible one I could see happening is take a page out of RGB or IDW, seeing them deal with an upstate NY case (could even set it up near Peter and Dana's home if they're game to guest star) or in the New England area wouldn't be too much of a stretch. It could make a for a nice stand alone problem that isn't necessarily apocalyptic. They really gotta quit doing those end-of-the-world stories and dip into a tough case. A tough case can still be a great movie. But something potentially interesting the movie canon can do, is utilize the Paranormal Research Center. "Research." So they have field researchers, right? Maybe part of their tasks are to investigate the cases that are out of NYC and confirm it's worth sending the main team to deal with. But it goes sideways for the PRC team sent. They get trapped in a house that's more haunted than they thought. They go investigate a small town infested with Mini-Pufts a la Gremlins 1 but the twist is there's something worse there that happens to manifest on its anniversary to feed, a boogeyman entity of some sort or what have you. The main team shows up in search of them after comms are cut off. They get stuck there, too. They're isolated away from the home office and have to rely on what they have with them, local libraries, local hardware stores, the locals, the town nut who turns out to be right etc. Maybe it gets even more complicated when they realize they can't use Ghost Traps i.e. it's a corporeal entity and not a ghost just like Boogieman initially was.