Is Egon in danger? Ghostbusters apparatus teaser video for new sequel!

Jason Reitman, son of director Ivan Reitman, released a teaser video for an upcoming sequel to the 1984 classic Ghostbusters. We’ve got the details and a breakdown.

The teaser video, released exclusively to Entertainment Weekly, comes less than a day after they broke the news that Reitman was on board to direct a sequel to Ghostbusters. In the report, Reitman admitted that he spent 10 years saying that he would never make a Ghostbusters film.

It’s not like he needs help kick-starting his career. Reitman was nominated for a best director Oscar for 2007s Juno. He was nominated for best direction, best picture, and best adapted screenplay for 2009s Up in the Air.

Reitman also directed the 2005 satire Thank You for Smoking. He frequently collaborates with Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for writing Juno. Their most recent collaboration was last year’s Tully. The film stared Oscar winner Charlize Theron, who also stared in the Reitman directed Young Adult back in 2011.

So, while it is cool that Ghostbusters is returning to the Reitman family, it’s important to note that Jason Reitman is an accomplished director, producer, and collaborator. He’s going to need all of his skills to craft the film and set the tone for the marketing campaign.

The Barn in the Woods

The teaser lasts just under a minute. It’s not actual footage of the new film. This serves as a movie-less post-credits scene that teases the return of the Ghostbusters. And it’s effective. I got teary in a coffee shop after watching it.

Ghostbusters-Library-Courtesy of Sony Pictures Studios

It’s night. Everything is tinted green instead of the movie-normal midnight blue. We’re in the woods. I’m thinking upstate New York. There’s a barn on the right side of the frame with the door open. Low hanging clouds roll by and create ominous thunder. We see orange and blue sparks from the barn door accompanied by an electrical sound. It sounds familiar.

We roll up through the leaves, Godfather Part II style. Parts of the late Elmer Bernstein’s score start to play. As we’re rolling, we hear the music we first heard in the New York library at the beginning of Ghostbusters.

The camera gets closer to the ground as we roll towards the barn entrance. We can hear someone working with wrenches just out of frame. We see larger sparks and hear what sounds like a proton pack. Like someone trying to kick start a motorcycle in a getaway, you hear the proton pack almost ignite. But it sputters out.

We finally cross the threshold of the barn. We hear the part of the Ghostbusters score that plays as we pan up Dana Barrett’s Art Deco apartment building to show the sun blacked-out by Gozer the Gozerian in the original film. Something is covered up. There are more sparks that build to a glowing light. There’s a reaction happening that causes the cover to lift just enough to show us the back of Ecto-1.

We hear the proton pack kick start one more time as the screen goes to black. The familiar, warm hum of of a fully operational proton pack that has fuel cells with a half life of 5,000 years is all you can hear. Then  a message in green-highlighted Ghostbusters font reads Summer 2020.

What We Know

So, I’m excited. I read through the report and watched the teaser on repeat for a good long while. It’s explicitly mentioned that the 2016 Paul Feig reboot will not be part of the continuity of this film. That makes sense. Feig went out of his way to separate his film from the original, even though he was able to get original cast members to make cameos.

Ghostbusters-Scoleri Brothers-Courtesy of Sony Pictures Studios

I don’t know or care for what precipitated the move to have them play new, literal throw away characters. That killed any momentum the film had. All that mess aside, I would love to see Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, and Melissa McCarthy make cameos in some way. They did not deserve the hate they got for the film. They’re great talents who were trapped (and edited) into a suspect narrative.

What is not mentioned in the Entertainment Weekly article was also interesting. There’s no mention of 1989s Ghostbusters II. I get it. No one was thrilled by it. Somehow, the special effects were inferior to the original despite the advancements available in the late 80s. The score wasn’t as good, but the songs included on the soundtrack were great. Also, this was one of the first movies I ever saw in a movie theater and Viggo the Carpathian stills creeps me out. And, it does fill in some of the aftermath of the original.

I hope Ghostbusters II doesn’t get completely retconned. I mean, we could loose Ecto 1-A. We conveniently don’t see all of the license plate in the teaser, so, in theory, the plate could say Ecto 1-A. But the original logo is clearly emblazoned on the back of the rig. There’s a pretty enormous chance we’re looking at the original Ecto 1.

This One’s for Egon

Harold Ramis passed away in 2014. Besides playing Dr. Egon Spengler, Ramis co-wrote both original Ghostbusters films. I spent a lot of time at Second City in Chicago, IL. They now have the Harold Ramis Film School on campus. There’s a bronze bust of Ramis that sits in the 1959 Bar. It made an appearance in Feig’s 2016 film.

I grew up  idolizing the Ghostbusters. I spent a lot of time walking past that bust. Harold Ramis is a pretty legendary figure to me. So, this new film has to do right by Egon. And I think the teaser might be hinting at that.

Ghostbusters-Crunch Bar-Courtesy of Sony Pictures Studios

It’s been 35 years since the original film hit the theaters. In story time, Egon has probably retired. I think he might be in some kind of danger. Someone or some ghost might be hunting him for being a Ghostbuster or for trapping a family member. No. I don’t mean one of the Scoleri Brothers.

The barn we see in the teaser could easily be part of the childhood home that Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Akroyd) put up as collateral for the firehouse in the original film. It would make more sense that he would have the original Ecto 1 in his possession, as well. He could either be working with Egon to fix a proton pack to fight off the evil chasing them. Or, gulp, the proton pack is in response to Egon having been killed by the threat.

Ray could be assembling that pack to blast the stalking ghost in the face. The glowing light we see could easily be a ghost trap. Ray gets all his gear functional in the knick of time while he’s being stalked, just like Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name in The Good the Bad and the Ugly.

Ramis’ absence in the film will be major. As of right now, I don’t want some reference to his character made in passing followed by some Easter eggs throughout the film. I want Egon’s absence to be a consequential part of the plot. It doesn’t have to be gaudy or CGI-laden. But, per the Entertainment weekly article, Reitman’s pitch to his father left him in tears. I’m hoping that this means Egon will have a role in the plot that likely rounds out the stories of the original Ghostbusters.

I will be following news of the new Ghostbusters very closely. Stayed tuned to 1428 Elm for all of our reactions to what we hope is the best movie of 2020.

Have you seen the teaser for Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters film? Were you shocked there was one? Are you excited? Let’s discuss in the comments!