The trickle of information on Ghostbusters: Afterlife continues to keep us begging for more ghostbusting goodness as the movie gets another delay.
First up we get our first look at Muncher, which appears to be the new Slimer-adjacent ghost. This is likely the first bust of the film and we originally got a blurry glimpse of the blue blob in the teaser trailer from a year ago.
Then we saw some photos and the name in a batch of upcoming toys at Toy Fair 2020, and now we get a great shot of our blue boogeyman from a strange and unusual place – Master Chef Junior: Spain. Ghostbusters News shared the information with the world, and we see Muncher is quite the ugly little spud. Will he become the next mascot for the Ghostbusters franchise? Will Muncher take the world by storm like Slimer did by the time Ghostbusters 2 released? Time will tell.
Speaking of time, per Variety, Sony has delayed a number of their films, bumping Ghostbusters: Afterlife once again further back to November 11, 2021. This is now the third delay the film has seen due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, the film was slated to be released in July 2020, then delayed to March 5th, 2021, now we won’t see it until November. This is understandable as theaters in many areas of the world have not opened yet, especially within the United States
Other studios have decided to release their films like Scoob!, Trolls: World Tour, and Bill & Ted Face The Music direct to Video On Demand over the last year to varying levels of success. Others such as Borat 2 and Wonder Woman 84 were premiered via streaming services, with many more to come such as Mortal Kombat, The Matrix 4, and Godzilla Vs Kong.
It seems like Sony can’t catch a break with Ghostbusters. The 2016 film was plagued with leaks and an aggressive backlash by the online community. However, it was well-received by critics and has a very loyal fanbase (myself included).
We have only seen a teaser and a few toys, but now that they can no longer delay the Twinkies and Ghostbusters Cereal that would likely expire by November, we will likely see a staggered release of promotional items and tie-ins as the movie’s release date creeps up on us ever so slowly.
It will be a very interesting study on how these delays will affect the general reception of the film. Let’s hope the hype can sustain us through the year!
