between renewal and nostalgia, a fourth part which seeks to find its place

New York and its ectoplasm hunters are back in “Ghostbusters: The Ice Menace”, a new opus in the cult saga of the 1980s.

Direct continuation of Ghostbusters: Legacy released in 2021, the film Ghostbusters : The Ice Menace arrives in French cinemas on Wednesday April 10. He brings the descendants of Egon Spengler, one of the members of the original trio played by actor Harold Ramis, who died in 2014, back to New York to take over ghost hunting.

Helped by the heroes of the first films played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts, the new generation, led by Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), faces specters from the previous films. The group also faces a new threat: an ancient demon capable of manipulating the cold.

“The playing field is full”, recognizes from AFP the director Gil Kenan, who was screenwriter for the previous part. Composing with all these characters was “one of the biggest challenges of this film” but “I’m proud of the fact that, even though there are so many of them, they all have moments of action”, he adds.

Please the fans

If, by moving the plot to Oklahoma and highlighting new characters, the penultimate part brought a breath of fresh air to the saga and questioned the transmission between generations, Ghostbusters: The Ice Threat is intended to be much closer to the framework of the first two films released in 1984 and 1989.

And when you’re at the helm of a saga that has a solid fan base, “we must not be naive about the importance of the past”, admits the director, for whom “you have to find the right balance” between references to old feature films and new stories.

“Of course, you have to be aware that there are traps you can fall into,” he continues, “but you have to know how to dare and show the fans that there are still discoveries to be made in this universe.”

New generation

The film also gives pride of place to teenagers, since it sees the return of Spengler’s grandchildren, heroes of the previous film, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace). “I was really hoping there would be a second movie,” confides to AFP actress Mckenna Grace, 17, who admits to having written almost every week to Jason Reitman, at the helm of the last part, to tell him that the film had changed her life.

For Finn Wolfhard, sharing the poster with the actors of the original films was “a very cool and surreal experience.” “I see them a bit like teachers,” confesses the young 21-year-old actor. “I don’t know if there will be another film, but clearly I would be uncomfortable with the idea of ​​replacing them.” Discovered in the series Stranger Things, Finn Wolfhard is currently filming the final season of the hit Netflix series.

Released on March 22 in the United States, Ghostbusters: The Ice Threat has already grossed nearly $80 million, according to the specialist site Box Office Mojo.