Dan Aykroyd, creator and star of the original Ghostbusters, has joined Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation’s upcoming animated series as executive producer. Netflix announced the news as part of its Annecy International Animation Film Festival lineup announcement.
Netflix has described the show as “based on the beloved Ghostbusters IP” and says it will “debut exclusively on Netflix in 2027.” Plot specifics remain tightly under wraps.
Aykroyd joins Ben Hibon, Elliott Kalan, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan, and Amie Karp on the EP list. That’s a stacked producing team with deep roots in the franchise’s recent history. Reitman and Kenan recently co-wrote the live-action features Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, with Reitman directing the former and Kenan directing the latter.
No plot details yet but we’re hopeful to get some soon.
Exact plot details are under wraps. However, it was reported that the 3D animated series would be tonally in line with the recent Ghostbusters films. Early rumors suggest the show is allegedly set in the ’90s, during Walter Peck’s initial run for mayor.
Aykroyd has already shown real enthusiasm for the project.
“We are doing a really neat animated Ghostbusters. It’ll be coming out quite soon. The characters and the whole take and the look of Manhattan is really exciting.”
Aykroyd said
He also hinted at something more meaningful beneath the ghost-busting. There may be “an opportunity there for those writers to address some of the issues that we need to heal and move on with our lives.”
Hibon, whose credits include Star Trek: Prodigy and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, has outlined a series that blends horror, comedy, sci-fi, and fantasy with a tactile, highly stylized visual approach. Early concept art shown to attendees featured four young heroes wielding Proton Packs. Facing off against a gritty Manhattan skyline, said to have evoked a similar energy to the Spider-Verse films.
Production on the series will be handled by Netflix and Ghost Corps, Inc., which is based at Sony’s Columbia Pictures. Flying Bark Productions announced they were working on the series, hiring for both Sydney and Spain.
Reitman, Kenan, Hibon, and Kalan will be on hand for June 24th’s “Next on Netflix Animation: from Ghostbusters to Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn,” which will include a world-exclusive preview of the series.
Reports about the show first emerged four years ago. An expansion of the universe that started more than four decades back with Aykroyd’s original. The series is not the only project in the new Ghostbusters pipeline. There is also an animated movie in the works. For fans of the franchise, it’s shaping up to be a very busy stretch ahead.
