Why 2 OG Ghostbusters Characters Don’t Appear In Frozen Empire Explained By Director

Summary

• Director Gil Kenan explains why two original characters were excluded from the latest
  Ghostbusters
  sequel.
• There was no story written for Rick Moranis or Sigourney Weaver in
  Frozen Empire
  , but future sequels may explore their characters more.
• A future sequel could connect to
  Ghostbusters II
  ‘s storyline and expand the franchise.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan has explained why the franchise’s latest sequel left out two of the original movies’ biggest characters. A direct follow-up to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Frozen Empire sees the franchise’s newest faces joined by original Ghostbusters stars Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts. The latest sequel also features the return of William Atherton’s Walter Peck, the antagonist from the original 1984 movie who first attempted to shut down the team in his former role as an inspector for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Kenan was asked whether an attempt was ever made to lure Rick Moranis back as the hapless accountant Louis Tully. While the director said that was a question best directed towards his writing partner and producer Jason Reitman, he admitted that the pair never wrote a role for Moranis. Similarly, he admitted that Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett was left out as “there was no story” for her in Frozen Empire. Check out his comments below:

That would be a Jason Reitman question. That was more of an
Afterlife
story. We never wrote a role for Louis Tully in
Frozen
Empire
. We’ve got enough characters in this story. I love Tully by the way. I’m a huge Rick Moranis fan. Louis Tully was an indelible element of
Ghostbusters
. Dana Barrett is also one of my favorite characters in these films, but there was no story for Dana Barrett in
Frozen
Empire
. But if we’re lucky enough to make more of these films, I would love for Dana to have more to do in these stories.

The Best Way Ghostbusters Can Bring Back Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett

Weaver reprised Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Moreover, if Kenan and Reitman want to bring Dana Barrett back for a future sequel, her story in 1989’s
Ghostbusters II
provides the perfect opportunity to do so.

While fans of the Ghostbusters franchise would relish the opportunity to see Moranis return to the franchise, the actor famously stepped away from acting in 1997 to focus on raising his two children. Though he previously signed on to return to the profession in 2020 for a revival of Honey I Shrunk The Kids, the project has since stalled and the actor is still yet to make his official return to the big screen.

As such, it would seem far more likely that producers would be able to secure Weaver’s return in a future Ghostbusters movie, especially given her willingness to return for a post-credit scene in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Moreover, if Kenan and Reitman want to bring Dana Barrett back for a future sequel, her story in 1989’s Ghostbusters II provides the perfect opportunity to do so. Depicted as the single mother of a young son named Oscar, her infant son would later become the target of the movie’s supernatural villain, Vigo the Carpathian.

With Reitman previously teasing Vigo’s potential return, it is possible that Weaver could potentially look to the new Ghostbusters to help protect her now-adult son from falling prey to the same entity who failed to claim his body as a child. Moreover, such a move could be used to better fill in the gaps between the original movies and the franchise’s latest installments. At this stage, however, it is unclear whether audiences should expect another sequel after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but there is still ample opportunity for the franchise’s continued expansion.

Source: THR