Ghostbusters 2 (2020s)

Ghostbusters 2020 (working title Ghostbusters 2) is a cancelled sequel to the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot that was announced shortly after the first film was released in theaters. Paul Feig and the main cast were signed on for the sequel.

Plot

According to a podcast interview with Paul Feig, the premise for the sequel would involve ghosts from foreign countries invading New York City and the Ghostbusters spring into action again to fight the ghosts. Rest of the plot is unknown.

Cast

• Melissa McCarthy as Dr. Abigail "Abby" Yates
• Kristen Wiig as Dr. Erin Gilbert
• Kate McKinnon as Dr. Jillian "Holtz" Holtzmann
• Leslie Jones as Patricia "Patty" Tolan
• Chris Hemsworth as Kevin Beckman

Rest of the cast is unknown.

Why It Was Cancelled

1. Plans for a Ghostbusters shared universe, as well as the sequel were cancelled due to the controversy and box office failure of the first Ghostbusters.
2. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics, the film was panned by audiences and fans of the original films.
3. Marketing for the first film was poor and the film failed to meet the expectations of being a hit.
4. The box office failure of the first film lead to Sony losing $70 to $75 million and a $1 billion letdown in 2017, which meant that there was no likely chance for a sequel.
5. Director Paul Feig didn't handle the criticism properly from fans of the original films.
6. Paul spent too much money on marketing and advertising. Paul also didn't pay attention to Sony's recommendations for using the budget money and Dan Aykroyd's rules on making the film. Dan also said that Paul would not be back on the Sony lot after spending too much money on marketing and not enough on the budget.

Results

• The sequel was permanently cancelled following the poor performance of the first film, which later resulted in Sony losing $70 to $75 million (mentioned earlier). Despite the cancellation, Paul Feig still expresses interest in doing the sequel.
• The first film is stand-alone.
• A fully animated film fell into focus shortly after the the 2016 movie released. It was also going to be a tie-in with the 2016 movie.
  • This was shortly cancelled as Sony decided to look forward to the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
• Sony went on to continue the original franchise instead of the reboot franchise, with a third film titled Ghostbusters: Afterlife set to be released in 2021. Jason Reitman, son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, as well as Ivan Reitman himself, will be involved in the film as director and producer respectively. The film will star most of the original cast including Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts reprising their roles from the first two films respectively and will star new cast members and will be a direct sequel to the original films thus ignoring the events of the reboot film.