Columbia Pictures’ Ghostbusters: Afterlife went nuclear with the nostalgia and yet somehow left Slimer out of the reunion. Thankfully, he’ll be returning in next year’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the studio revealed today on socials.
The official Ghostbusters socials shared a massive lenticular theater display that announced the return of Slimer and “a new empire of spirits.” While Slimer didn’t appear in Afterlife, the ghost did appear with a female companion in Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters remake.
Last April, Jason Reitman explained to The A.V. Club that Slimer didn’t appear in Afterlife because of the Oklahoma setting: “…every culture has their own ghost stories, and we want to see all of them.“
In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, 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 top-secret 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.
Gil Kenan (Monster House, Poltergeist) directed the upcoming sequel. Jason Reitman, who directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is producing this time around.
The cast includes Patton Oswalt, Kumail Nanjiani, James Acaster, and Emily Alyn Lind, alongside Bill Murray, Finn Wolfhard, Ernie Hudson, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Annie Potts, Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Coon.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opens in theaters March 29, 2024.
Slimer is back along with a new empire of spirits waiting to be discovered. #Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is coming soon exclusively to movie theaters. pic.twitter.com/oRsXBaLC17
— Ghostbusters (@Ghostbusters) December 11, 2023