"Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" Release Date Pushed Forward

Sony has pushed up the release date of Columbia Pictures‘ “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, the sequel to 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”.

The blockbuster release date has been moved from March 29 to March 22. The pic opens against Lionsgate’s Mark Wahlberg adventure pic "Arthur the King" and Focus Features’ "The American Society of Magical Negroes", among other titles.

Set to screen in IMAX and premium large formats, the latest chapter in the storied Ghostbusters franchise takes ghostbusting from rural Oklahoma to its roots in New York City.

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” follows a single mom who took her two children to a small town in Oklahoma, where they discovered their grandfather’s secret legacy and connection to the Ghostbusters.

The movie starred Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace, who were all new to the franchise. New additions to the cast include Patton Oswalt and Kumail Nanjiani.

Original stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver also made their “Ghostbusters” return in “Afterlife.”

The movie was directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, the original “Ghostbusters” director. Jason Reitman penned the “Afterlife” reboot alongside Gil Kenan and Aykroyd, with Ivan Reitman producing.

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” has been described as a clean slate for the franchise, allowing them to move forward in a way Afterlife couldn't, because they had to address both the long absence of the Ghostbusters in-universe and also the passing of Egon Spengler, whose family is a key part of the new generation of Ghostbusters.

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. 

However, 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. 

The upcoming movie will also be a prequel comic that fills in the gap between Afterlife and Frozen Empire.

Kenan directs the upcoming movie. Reitman teased the sequel’s production in an Instagram post at the iconic “Ghostbusters” firehouse standing alongside Kenan in February, with “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” cinematographer Eric Steelberg snapping the pic.

“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,” said Kenan in a statement when he was announced as director. “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.”

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is the fifth movie in the franchise and comes after “Ghostbusters” in 1984, “Ghostbusters II” in 1989, female-led “Ghostbusters” in 2016, and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in 2021.