The idea behind Ghostbusters: Afterlife was to bring the franchise back to its original roots, introducing new characters with ties to the past while also bringing the original Ghostbusters back into the mix. It proved to be a smart choice, with the nostalgia-heavy Afterlife scaring up over $200 million at the box office. But it sounds like next year’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is leaving much of the past behind, promising a new story, a new threat and new mythology.

Director Gil Kenan (Monster House) tells Empire Online, “Because the Spengler family story drove the narrative in Afterlife, bringing Gozer back to centre-stage was a natural way to close the book on the past. But we are now in the post-Gozerian era of the Ghostbusters saga, so that means we’re able to stretch out and create an entirely new mythology.”

Kenan continues, “And that’s thrilling as a storyteller, because there are all-new and terrifying stakes with fresh visual references to draw on.”

That new threat is described in the film’s first official trailer as “The Death Chill,” which turns a warm NYC summer into a frozen apocalypse and has “the power to kill by fear itself.”

The trailer also previews the arrival of a giant horned beast which seems to be connected to the Death Chill – or perhaps the new monster is the embodiment of the Death Chill itself.

If this all sounds like an episode of “The Real Ghostbusters,” that’s because Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was indeed inspired by the 1980s animated series. This should be a fun one!

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.

The cast includes Patton Oswalt, Kumail Nanjiani, James Acaster, and Emily Alyn Lind, alongside Bill Murray, Finn Wolfhard, Ernie Hudson, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Annie Potts, Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Coon.

Jason Reitman, who directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is producing the upcoming sequel. The current release date is March 29, 2024, pushed back from December 2023.