Ghostbusters: Afterlife

2021 film directed by Jason Reitman

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a 2021 film and a sequel to Ghostbusters II. In the film, set 32 years after the events of the second film, a single mother and her two children move to a small town in Oklahoma, where they discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and their grandfather's secret legacy.

Directed by Jason Reitman. Written by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman.
Discover the Past. Save the Future. taglines

Trevor

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  • Honestly, my mom won't say it, but we're completely broke. And the only thing that's left in our name is this creepy old farmhouse my grandfather left us in the middle of nowhere.
  • Hey remember that summer, when we all died under a table?

Dr. Peter Venkman

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  • You got a lot of nerve! Coming back here, crawling back to me. We could have been the most spectacular power couple, you know. My sense of fun, and your personality. But, no: you always had to vanquish! Conquer! You always had to maim somebody!

Dialogue

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[Phoebe and Gary Grooberson have rigged a ghost trap to a school bus]
Phoebe: Are you sure this is safe?
Gary: Safe? Heh. No. No, history is safe. Geometry: that's safe. Science is all particle accelerators and hydrogen bombs. Science is giving yourself the plague and gambling on the cure.
Phoebe: Science is reckless.
Gary: Totally! Yes! It's punk rock! A safety pin through the nipple of academia.
Podcast: Ouch.
Gary: Fire it up.

Callie Spenger: Hi!
Gary: Hello, again.
Callie: You... brought them home.
Gary: It's a service I provide. I'm also an escort.... that came out wrong.
Callie: Kinda, yeah.
Gary: Look, the truth is, is that I've always kind of wondered what lurked inside this... haunt-box.
Callie: Right. Well, the only think lurking inside here is my slowly-dying soul.
Gary: Is that what that smell is?
Callie: Well, it's not dinner, so... [chuckles] Uh, would you...?
Gary: Sure!
Callie: Like...?
Gary: Yeah!
Callie: I don't have any food.
Gary: It's fine.
Callie: Tour!
Gary: Great!
Callie: Great.

Ray Stantz: Ray's Occult, and we're closed.
Phoebe: Wait! I only get one phone call. I'm... in prison.
Ray: The slammer, huh? Heh, been there myself. I'm no lawyer, but I'm listening.
Phoebe: Are you Ray Stanz, the Ghostbuster?
Ray: And now, I'm hanging up.
Phoebe: Hang on, please! I'm calling about Egon Spengler.
Ray: [pauses] Egon Spengler can rot in Hell.
Phoebe: He died last week.
Ray: Oh, man... No kidding.
Phoebe: Weren't you two friends?
Ray: That was a long time ago.
Phoebe: What happened to you guys?
Ray: Well, when we started, busting ghosts was a gas. The economy was good. Reagan years. People believed in us, then things got slow. Hauntings got thin. Venkman thought we did our job too well. Oh, we could barely keep up our mortgage. Some actor bought up most of Tribeca, and we lost the firehouse. It's a Starbucks now.
Phoebe: So, then you all just walked away?
Ray: Peter went back to academia. He's in SUNY Cortland now, he's a Professor Emeritus, he teaches advertising and promotion. Winston went into finance, he worked hard, coined a fortune. And I'm... here.
Phoebe: Well... what about Egon?
Ray: Well, he wasn't helping. We went from ten calls a week, to one, if we were lucky. Then Egon started to tell people their little ghost problems didn't matter because the world was coming to an end. He got spooky, freaked me out! One morning, I go to work, and Ecto-1, our old cadillac, is gone. His neutronophone and collider pack, all the traps! Sixteen ounces of fuel isotope! All gone! He cleaned us out! Now we were the dead ones.
Phoebe: Don't you think he might have had a reason?
Ray: He phoned me, about ten years later. Some small town in Oklahoma. Kept rambling on about the rising storm. A huge psychic tornado that was going to consume humanity in darkness forever. And, kid, I wanted to believe him-
Phoebe: You don't understand, there was this mountain, and it had these ancient carvings, and-
Ray: Kid, kid, kid, there are a lot of mountains out there with ancient carvings. Take a little advice: don't go chasing ghosts.
Phoebe: Egon Spengler was my grandfather.
Sheriff Domingo: [hangs up the phone] Time's up.
Ray: Hello?

Phoebe: Uh... what do you call a fish with no 'i's? A fsh! Uh... A whale... There's two whales in a bar, and one of them goes [imitates whale call], and then, the other one goes: 'go home. You're drunk.' Uh... Uh... so a grasshopper walks into a bar, and the bartender's like 'we have a drink named after you!' And the grasshopper goes 'you have a drink named Steve?!'
Gozer: [unamused] Have you come to offer yourself in sacrifice?
Phoebe: What?
Gozer: Are you prepared to die?
Phoebe: No, I'm twelve. Are you?

[After Lucky is possessed by the Gatekeeper, Gozer goes to shock Callie and Phoebe]
Man: [offscreen] Hey, flat-top!
[Gozer looks over her shoulder. She, Callie and Phoebe find the original Ghostbusters]
Peter Venkman: Have you missed us?
[From inside Ecto-1, three tiny Stay Puft Marshmallow Men gasp and cheer]
Ray: Gozer the Gozerian! In the name of the county of Summerville, state of Oklahoma, The US Fish and Wildlife Service, all the members of Ducks Unlimited, The Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons. I command you under the National Invasive Species Act to depart this world immediately.
Peter: Bravo.
[Gozer growls]
Winston Zeddemore: I think she remembers us.
[Gozer gazes at them]
Gozer: Are you... a god?
[Ray pauses]
Winston: Ray?
Peter: Oh, come on, Ray!
Ray: Yes.
Winston: Yeah, we're all gods.
Peter: Yeah, I mean, we're all pretty dang special out here. On a personal note, I thought that we had busted up for good. I mean, it wasn't working for me. My friends didn't think so, I know yours didn't.
[The Gatekeeper goes to attack, but Gozer signals for it to stop]
Winston: Okay, playtime's over. Let's toast this muffin.
[The Ghostbusters unholster their proton wands]
Peter: Light 'em up!
Winston: Man, I love that sound!
Peter: On the count of 3. Let's go on 2. 1, 2!
[The Ghostbusters blast their proton streams around Gozer's body. Callie and Phoebe watch in amazement]
Ray: Yeah, nothing stings like 1,000,000,000 electronic volts!

[Gozer has just been defeated, the ghost of Egon stands besides his former colleagues]
Peter: I thought you might show up.
[They gaze at their late friend]
Ray: I'm sorry I didn't believe you.
[Egon smiles acceptably, then nods as if to say, "That's OK."]
Winston: You should have called. I miss you, my friend.

Peter: Hi, there. Pete Venkman, from the home office. Thanks for pitching in.
Phoebe: You're welcome.
Peter: I like your style. Who's that one?
Callie: Callie. [pauses] Callie Spengler.
Peter: Spengler? Heh, weird name. Try to make the best of that. Alright, we're gonna have cocoa inside. Some of us will have rum with it.

Ray: Are you alright, son? You just single-handedly defeated a manifestation of Gozer.
Podcast: You gotta be on my podcast!
Ray: Sure. What's it called?
Podcast: Mystical Tales of the Unknown Universe.
Ray: "M-T-Double U"? That's you?
Podcast: Wait... you're my subscriber!?
Ray: Really found its voice in the 46th episode.

[Dana Barrett and Peter are playing with Peter's ESP cards]
Dana: Do you know what this is?
Peter: Lines. 2… No, 3… wavy lines.
Dana: [reveals the card] That's amazing.
Peter: You're amazing, with your ability to... flood my psychic powers.
Dana: [holds up another card] I can't believe you used to shock your students.
Peter: Between us, I only zapped the guys. [Dana zaps him, causing him to yell in pain]
Peter: For science. I know that now. I admit that.
Dana: Ready? Try this one.
Peter: Uh…
Dana: Take a moment.
Peter: Uh… It's a 5-pointed star… yes?
Dana: [reveals the card] How are you doing that?
Peter: Some believe that true love imbues the subject with the ability… [Dana shocks him again]
Dana: Did you mark the cards?
Peter: Haha... no.
Dana: You did, didn't you?
Peter: [nods] Yeah. [Dana shocks him once more] Aah!
Dana: It works well.

Winston: Egon was the brains. Ray was the heart. Peter just kept it cool.
Janine: Who were you?
Winston: The sex appeal.
[Janine and Winston laugh]
Janine: You've done very well for yourself. A lot of shelf space.
Winston: See, that's the thing. I don't do it for me. I do it for my kids, and I want to be an example of what's possible.
Janine: You still covering the rent at Ray's book shop?
Winston: Ray's gonna turn a profit one of these days.
Janine: [chuckles] I remember the day you came in.
Winston: I came in looking for a steady paycheck. Busting ghosts with the guys taught me not to be afraid. That I had the tools, and I had the talent. I started this business with one employee, and I've grown it into a thriving global enterprise. I may be a businessman, but I will always be a Ghostbuster.

Dedication

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Taglines

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  • Discover the Past. Save the Future.

Cast

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  Encyclopedic article on Ghostbusters: Afterlife on Wikipedia

GHOSTBUSTERS
  FILMS     Ghostbusters  (1984) · Ghostbusters II  (1989) · Ghostbusters  (2016) · Ghostbusters: Afterlife  (2021) · Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire  (2024)  
  TELEVISION     The Real Ghostbusters  (1986–1992) · Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue  (1990) · Extreme Ghostbusters  (1997)  
  NOVELS     Ghostbusters: The Return  (2004)  
  COMICS     The Real Ghostbusters  (1988–1992) · Ghostbusters: Legion  (2004–2005) · Ghostbusters: Ghost Busted  (2008) · Ghostbusters: Total Containment  (2011–2012) · Ghostbusters: Mass Hysteria  (2013–2014)  
  VIDEO GAMES     Ghostbusters II  (1990) · New Ghostbusters II  (1990) · The Real Ghostbusters  (1993) · Ghostbusters: The Video Game  (2009) · Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime  (2011) · Lego Dimensions  (2015)