Ghostbusters: Frozen Empirehas delivered a fan-pleasing addition to the spooky saga, but despite a hefty cast-list, there are two notable franchise absentees –Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett andRick Moranis’Louis Tully. DirectorGil Kenanrecently revealed toThe Hollywood Reporterwhy Moranis and Weaver do not appear in the new movie.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Audiences have been delighted to seeGhostbusters: Frozen Empiremaking good on the promise of 2021’sGhostbusters: Afterlife, and bring back both theOG team of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts, and the new recruits including Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and McKenna Grace. However, the extended character roster has caused some problems for critics, who have called the sequel “overstuffed” with faces looking for screen time.
In a way, this complaint is partly the reason neither Moranis nor Weaver appear inFrozen Empire; there was just not room or a purpose for them this time around. Questioned first about Moranis, Kenan explained:
“That would be a [co-writer and Afterlife director] Jason Reitman question. That was more of an Afterlife story. We never wrote a role for Louis Tully in Frozen Empire. We’ve got enough characters in this story. I love Tully by the way. I’m a huge Rick Moranis fan. Louis Tully was an indelible element of Ghostbusters. Dana Barrett is also one of my favorite characters in these films, but there was no story for Dana Barrett in Frozen Empire. But if we’re lucky enough to make more of these films, I would love for Dana to have more to do in these stories.”
Previously, Weaver revealed that despite making a cameo appearance in the mid-credits scene ofGhostbusters: Afterlife,she was not asked to return forFrozen Empire.Following Kenan’s comments, it is clear that her character just didn’t fit into the narrative.
Ghostbusters Could Get More Sequels
There are some franchises that churn out multiple sequels in very quick succession, year after year.Ghostbustersfans had to wait more than 30 years to see a third movie arrive (in the same continuity of the original, so discounting the 2016 reboot), so gettingFrozen Empirejust three years later is nothing short of a miracle. However, that may still not be the end, asKenan has already discussed potential ideas for the next sequel.
During the same interview, Kenan told THR that the next movie would definitely continue the same saga thatAfterlifeandFrozen Empirestarted, with Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe Spengler being the heart of the movie. He said:
“If we’re lucky enough to get to tell another one of these films, Jason and I are primed and ready to continue the Phoebe Spengler saga. We agree that the single most important decision we had to make at the start of this process was to take this from something that was a group of people who came together with a shared purpose, which was starting a business, to making it about a family saga with one character at the center of it. And that was Phoebe Spangler.”
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review | A Predictable but Cool Sequel
The Spengler family and Gary (Paul Rudd) have trouble acclimating to life in New York City while a new threat emerges.
WhetherGhostbusterswill be raising spirits again in future really depends on the success ofFrozen Empire. So far, things seem to be heading in the right direction, with the film tracking for a $45 million domestic opening this weekend.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empireis out now in cinemas.
