Monster House Director to Helm Ghostbusters: Afterlife Sequel

Jason Reitman had taken over his father’s Ghostbusters franchise with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but now he’s ready to pass the torch to the director of the next movie.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gil Kenan (City of Ember, Monster House) has signed on to direct the sequel to Afterlife which will have the kids moving from the farm and into the old Ghostbusters firehouse HQ in New York City. Kenan said in a statement:

“It’s an absolute honor to pick up the proton pack and step behind the camera for the next chapter of the Spengler family saga. I just wish I could go back to 1984 and tell the kid in the sixth row of the Mann Valley West that one day he was going to get to direct a Ghostbusters film.”

If anything, Kenan isn’t entirely new to the franchise, he was actually executive producer for Afterlife and had written the script alongside Reitman. Now Reitman is attached as a producer, but both of them still provided the script for this follow-up.

We don’t know where the story could go for the sequel, but it seems like the whole issue with Gozer has finally been put to rest. The problem now is the ghost containment unit in the firehouse, which looks like it’s about to blow—which could result in the city in need of some new ghostbusters.

While I do like Afterlife, I think it didn’t have that same sarcastic comedy feel of the first two films. With the sequel though, I think there’s a lot of opportunity to get back to those roots; but we’ll just have to wait and see what they come up with.

The sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife is set to come out on Dec. 20, 2023.