Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Trailer Breakdown: It's A Cruel (Cool) Summer
New York City? More like New York Chilly! Amirite?! The first trailer for the unfortunately titled "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" has arrived, and it's going to be a cool summer in the Big Apple, as a freezing paranormal threat suddenly invades the city.
Following the events of "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) and her kids Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) have returned to New York after heading out to Summerville, Oklahoma to inherit a dusty old farm and a paranormal legacy that will turn them into rising Ghostbusters, alongside the return of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and the uncanny CGI double of Harold Ramis as the original Ghostbusters gang: Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, and the spirit of Egon Spengler, respectively.
This is a fantastic first tease for the "Ghostbusters" sequel, one that taps a bit more back into the humor of the original franchise, not to mention bringing the surviving original cast members back for another round of tracking down spooks, specters, and ghosts. There's a vibe that feels like it's further capitalizing on the Amblin Entertainment angle of the first movie and filling a void for high-concept live-action movies for the whole family that actually have some stakes and scares.
Let's dig into the "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" trailer with a proper breakdown.
Summer freeze
With a montage that feels reminiscent of the opening of "Die Hard with a Vengeance," the trailer begins by showing summer life in New York City. Citizens enjoying the warm weather, fire hydrants opened up for splashing in the streets, and the beach next to Coney Island is packed. But this lovely summer day is about to be interrupted.
Sony Pictures
As dark clouds roll into the beach, so does an extreme chill. Frost forms on the trademark Coney Island Ferris wheel, and sharp spikes of ice begin shooting down onto the sandy beach. Meanwhile, further into the city, more ice spikes are sprouting up out of the ground, impaling taxis and ruining the streets (or at least making them worse than they already were). The city is about to be swallowed by this storm. What the hell is going on?
Blast from the past?
The ice reaches all the way to the Ghostbusters firehouse, and we hear that signature little piano twinkle from the original "Ghostbusters" score by Elmer Bernstein. And then it's followed by a couple more familiar sounds, as the roar of an engine and the sound of the Ecto-1 siren as it makes a sudden u-turn, signaling the return of everyone's favorite paranormal exterminators and the continued rise of a new generation of Ghostbusters.
Sony Pictures
Voiceover from new cast member Patton Oswalt (who starred in Jason Reitman's "Young Adult") comes in as we get a shot of Phoebe inside the Ghostbusters firehouse, wearing a jumpsuit and proton pack as snow covers the interior. Another shot shows Trevor alongside Summerville local Lucky Domingo (Celeste O'Connor), who appears to be paying a visit to NYC. Surely she wouldn't have up and left Summerville on a whim with the Spengler family right? Another character is on the other side of Trevor, presumably a new face, and we see him later when things get even colder for our characters, so he must be a key new guy.
Sony Pictures
Oswalt's character is heard saying, "For the first time in New York history, people froze to death in the middle of July." Though the voiceover goes hand-in-hand with what's happening in the trailer, the phrasing makes it sound like Oswalt is describing something that happened in the past and has now returned to NYC. One particular shot seems to confirm that, as it appears to show a flashback where someone in vintage clothing and hairstyle is frozen stiff.
The death chill
Ladies and gentleman, Dan Aykroyd! Returning to provide further exposition, he says that this phenomenon is referred to as the "death chill." He goes on to explain that it has "The power to kill by fear itself. Your veins turn to rivers of ice. Your bones crack."
Sony Pictures
During this voiceover, we also see new shots of Ernie Hudson and Bill Murray as Winston and Venkman, seemingly before ice and snow have infiltrated the Ghostbusters headquarters. This makes me wonder if the return of the original team will be somewhat limited, and they end up frozen stiff themselves temporarily, leaving the new generation of Ghostbusters to be the ones to save the day. But more on that later.
Ray's Occult?
Throughout this montage, we also catch a glimpse of Kumail Nanjiani as another new character. Both Nanjiani and Oswalt may be researchers of some kind. There are shots of them in front of shelves of books. Could they be working at Ray's Occult? Surely the book shop isn't busy enough to warrant two other employees beyond Ray Stantz. Perhaps Ray's Occult isn't what it seems. Because the synopsis for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" says this:
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.
Sony Pictures
Top secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level? Ray's Occult would certainly be a good front for a secret lab, and that would explain Oswalt and Nanjiani's characters. If you look at one of the shots of Oswalt, he's wearing a lanyard, likely signaling that he's an employee at this facility. Then again, it could just be your average library. After all, we have a shot of one of the lions from the front of the New York Public Library coming to life in one shot, so anything is possible.
Not so Lucky
Aykroyd's voiceover concludes with the ominous last moment of life if you experience the death chill: "And the last thing you see, is your own tear ducts freezing up."
It would appear that maybe Lucky doesn't last very long alongside the rest of the new Ghostbusters. As Aykroyd delivers these details, her body begins to freeze over and we get a close-up of her eyes freezing too. This is what makes us think that the original Ghostbusters may end up getting frozen, too. But of course, our heroes should be able to unfreeze them after they've defeated this chilly evil, just as when Dana Barrett and Louis Tully turned back into their human form after transforming into Terror Dogs of Gozer in the original "Ghostbusters."
Speaking of that chilly evil ...
A horny new villain
Here's the new big bad for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire." An earlier shot in the movie shows the devilish creature attaching horns to its head. But this is the true villainous shot that wraps up the trailer. The spindly creature has long fingers that look like bony claws, glowing blue eyes, and large horns. Could this be another mythological god of some kind from the past? "Ghostbusters" has always rooted their monsters in some form of paranormal history that's inspired by real mythology, so this is bound to follow suit. But without a name dropped or a clearer shot of the creature, we'll have to wait until we see more.
Sony Pictures
But I gotta say, I love the final trailer of this shot, with Paul Rudd giving a deep, nervous laugh from a rooftop alongside Callie, Phoebe, and Trevor, who are all decked out in new orange Ghostbusters jackets to wear over their flightsuits. First of all, if Sony Pictures doesn't sell those, we're going to be pissed. But secondly, Rudd works so perfectly in Ghostbusters, bringing the right amount of humor to the proceedings, and this moment just feels right in the face of world-ending danger. It has a bit of Venkman, not unlike when he spouted things like, "This chick is toast!" in the original "Ghostbusters." However, I'm wondering exactly why he and Lucky are both in New York now. Are they both visiting at the same time? Did they move to New York City? What's the explanation here?
Regardless, what I love about this trailer is that it feels like we're getting something that is finally free of being tethered to the original "Ghostbusters" legacy. Sure, the original cast members are still around, but I feel like this is truly giving us something new and exciting for the franchise, and it's something that works for people of all ages. Fingers (and not streams) crossed!
"Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" is slated to hit theaters on March 29, 2024.