Netflix’s Ghostbusters Animated Series in Development With Original Star

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The original Ghostbusters movie became a huge cultural phenomenon, but the franchise has had a tough time maintaining that success. While the 1984 film was a critical and financial hit, earning close to $300 million, later movies haven’t lived up to its standards. Ghostbusters II wasn’t very well-received, the 2016 reboot flopped, and recent attempts like Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire didn’t impress critics or earn a profit – the latter even lost money despite costing $100 million to make. Interestingly, the most consistently praised part of the Ghostbusters universe has been The Real Ghostbusters, the popular animated series from 1986-1991. Now, Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation are revisiting that successful format with a new animated series that’s generating a lot of excitement before its debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Dan Aykroyd, a writer and star of the original Ghostbusters movie, is joining Netflix’s new animated Ghostbusters series as an executive producer. Netflix announced the show, which is based on the popular Ghostbusters franchise, as part of its plans for the Annecy animation festival in 2026, with a planned release date of 2027. The series, produced by Flying Bark Productions, will combine elements of horror, comedy, science fiction, and fantasy. Aykroyd has said he’s excited about the project, noting that it offers a chance to explore important themes and move forward.

Animation Is the Best Medium for Ghostbusters

Besides the new series, another animated Ghostbusters movie is also being developed. These two projects together mark the strongest long-term strategy for the franchise since the original films ended in 1989. At its heart, Ghostbusters is a deliberately silly comedy about everyday working people dealing with a strange and bureaucratic world of ghosts. The series treats the afterlife as more of an annoyance to be managed and billed for, and even dangerous villains are handled with a sense of humor. This unique tone is hard to pull off in a big-budget live-action movie, as the pressure to create a spectacle often overshadows the characters and story.

From the start, The Real Ghostbusters cartoon got what made the original Ghostbusters special. Without a huge budget to worry about, the show focused on being funny, creating imaginative ghosts each week, and letting its characters grow. It’s not surprising it lasted 140 episodes and is still the benchmark for everything Ghostbusters that’s come after. Attempts to recapture the original movie’s feel haven’t worked in live-action films, so perhaps the creative freedom of animation, with lower financial pressure, can finally allow Ghostbusters to succeed again in today’s world.

The Ghostbusters animated series is scheduled to debut on Netflix in 2027.

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2026-05-07 17:42