The third act of Ghostbusters: Afterlife has a lot of revelations. If you haven't seen the film, you probably know that Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson all reprise their roles from the original. The film has been in theaters for over a month, but others have not been made public. In a new interview, the film's co-writer and director discussed the long, careful process that led to the surprising scene.
In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the kids from the film are about to defeat Gozer and get help from the original Ghostbusters. The ghost of Egon Spengler, played by the late Harold Ramis, shows up in the original Ghostbusters. It was a big swing and even though we did not like it, it was acknowledged in an excellent interview with Empire.
The first person to read the script was my father, and after that it was the Ramis family. I knew that Harold's widow,Erica, and daughter,Violet, were both on the set of the original back in 1983. I talked to them about how we were going to do it. They looked at the visual effects that came to the editing room. They are the first people to see the movie. I think they were aware of how much I wanted to honor Harold, because they were part of the movie from start to finish. Egon was my favorite movie. This movie is dedicated to Spengler in every way.
Even with the family on board, there is still the task of making the effect live up to their reverence. The entire movie was framed around the reveal, so there was even more pressure.
The real question was how do we pull this off. Virtual characters that are difficult to look at are examples of virtual characters that work. It is one thing to see in the middle of a movie. If the whole climax of the movie is decided on whether or not the two people are hugging each other, it will be another thing. The Ghostbusters, who have gone through a misunderstanding and been broken apart, will get to stand next to each other and bust a ghost.
Bob Gunton, best known as the warden in The Shawshank Redemption, played Egon on the set, and the visual effects house did the rest. The Wrap has a detailed breakdown of that process. Regardless of whether the reveal worked for you or not, knowing the care that everyone involved with Ghostbusters: Afterlife put into that moment is a testament to their love and respect for the fictional characters.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife will be available on January 4 and on February 1 in 4K and 2K.
Wondering where our feed went? The new one can be picked up here.
