Ghostbusters: Afterlife Release Date Delayed To November

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Sony has delayed Ghostbusters: Afterlife to the fall. The long-awaited film is a continuation of the 1984 original and 1989 sequel. Though the film will focus on a new generation of Ghostbusters, many significant cast members from the originals will be returning, including Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife revolves around a family moving to a small town only to discover their grandfather has a connection to the Ghostbusters, and they must now carry on the legacy. Jason Reitman, son of the original two Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, is at the helm of the film. Ghostbusters: Afterlife marketing seemed to be ramping up as they unveiled a new look at the movie's Slimer-like ghost, Muncher, but it seems fans will have to wait a little longer to see this new incarnation of the Ghostbusters.

Sony has delayed a number of films and has now slated Ghostbusters: Afterlife for release on November 11, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the fourth release date for the film. It was previously slated for July 10, 2020, until moving to March 5, 2021, and then June 11, 2021.

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Ghostbusters Afterlife now arrives in theaters a week after Marvel Studios' Eternals and a week before Mission: Impossible 7 in what is shaping up to be a crowded fall and holiday movie season. MGM already announced they are pushing No Time To Die back to October 8, and rumors are circulating that Universal will delay the release of F9 as well. Disney is rumored to be mulling over releasing Black Widow on Disney+.

Unlike companies like Comcast, Viacom, or Disney, Sony doesn’t have a streaming service to release their exclusive content on so they would have to rely on deals with third party streamers like Amazon or Netflix and cut into their profit margin. Sony did sell the previously titled Connected to Netflix under the name The Mitchells vs The Machines, so clearly they're willing to make deals with certain properties, but it makes sense that they'd want a picture with a lot of brand recognition to have a big-screen release.

Moving Ghostbusters: Afterlife, along with the announcement earlier this week that Morbius would be delayed seven months, mirrors a similar move Sony made last year where they moved their entire 2020 schedule to 2021. Unlike other studios that took a wait and see approach, Sony decided that they wanted to save their biggest films for when theaters could be open at full capacity to maximize profit. Now that 2021 has arrived, it appears that the wait will be a little longer for studios and fans.