The upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife features much of the original cast from Ghostbusters almost forty years after its release. However, many fans feel like the story won’t be the same without Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler. And yet everybody involved in the new project is trying to make Ramis’ presence felt as much as possible. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Dan Aykroyd spoke about his fellow actor, who died at the age of 69 back in 2014 after suffering from an autoimmune disease.
“To have that formation without that man standing right there on the line with us was a pretty serious adjustment,” Aykroyd said. “He will be very well represented in the new film, I can tell you that. He’s very honorably represented.”
Ramis and Aykroyd co-wrote the original 1984 Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel.
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Aykroyd went on to add that the upcoming movie opens the possibility to some other sequels “with this group and with others who want to join.” He then spoke about the cultural influence that Ghostbusters had on the culture in the United States — and beyond.
“Every county in the United States has a paranormal society, and I don’t think before Ghostbusters that was true,” he stated. “No one back then knew what ectoplasm was, before Ghostbusters. We introduced that term to millions of people around the world where it was just a standard part of the vernacular in the research, which my family has been into for generations. We turned it into a joke [in the film], and I think that’s ok with everyone on the other side.”
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Sony Pictures pushed back Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s release. It will now hit theaters on March 5, 2021.
Do you think they will manage to honor Egon Spengler in the right way? Let us know in the comments section below.
Recommended Reading: Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History
