‘Ghostbusters’ TV Show in the Works at Netflix

Netflix is calling up the Ghostbusters! The streamer has reportedly greenlit a new Ghostbusters animated series to be executive produced by Elliott Kalan, the writer behind The Daily Show and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival, Variety reported Monday. Kalan will also serve as showrunner.

Few details are known about the upcoming series, which will “be tonally in line with the recent Ghostbusters films,” Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. A release window is unclear, and no cast members are attached to the project at this time. Plot details, including whether it will feature a new generation of ghostbusters or teams and characters the original 1984 movie and its sequel, are also uncertain.

The Ghostbusters series was first said to be in the works back in 2022. Netflix said at the time that the series was being developed in partnership with Sony Pictures Animation and Ghostbusters: Afterlife duo Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, who were set to executive produce. Reitman and Kenan still seem to be attached to the project, which will be handled by Netflix and Ghost Corps, Inc., which is based at Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

The animated show will mark the latest addition to the Ghostbusters franchise, which got its start back in 1984 with a film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by stars Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Bill Murray joined Aykroyd and Ramis to complete the trio of eccentric parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City. A sequel, Ghostbusters II, was released in 1989, with the franchise sitting idle for decades before it was revived in 2016 with Ghostbusters. Afterlife followed in 2021 and Frozen Empire in 2024, the latter of which saw Murray, Aykroyd, and Hudson reprise their roles from the 1984 movie alongside Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O’Connor, and Logan Kim.

The franchise also spawned several animated series. The Real Ghostbusters aired more than 140 episodes between 1986 and 1991. The short-lived Extreme Ghostbusters aired in 1997 and featured Egon Spengler as a mentor for a new batch of younger Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which grossed $202 million worldwide, is available to stream on Netflix. The remainder of the franchise is spread across streaming platforms and also available to rent or buy. Netflix’s upcoming animated series does not yet have a premiere date.