Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and Ernie Hudson on new film in franchise
Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard reprise their roles as a family and team of ghost catchers in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – this time in the location of the original films, New York City.
The latest addition to the movie franchise sees the original and new generation team up to protect their home from a second Ice Age.
Souped up Cadillac – Ecto-1. Pic. Columbia Pictures
Here are the key things you need to know about the fourth outing of everyone’s favourite 80s ghost hunters.
Ecto-1 or Millennium Falcon?
There wouldn’t be a Ghostbusters film without the iconic Ecto-1.
In the first reboot, Afterlife, the car was found by Wolfhard’s character on the grounds of his late grandfather Elon Spengler’s farm.
(L-R) Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon. Pic: Columbia Pictures
With the help of Spengler’s ghost, they repaired it and in Frozen Empire, it returns to the streets of New York.
“I actually got to drive it, it was really unreal,” says Rudd, admitting it was a “tricky” vehicle to manoeuvre.
“It’s almost like you’re driving the [Star Wars spacecraft] Millennium Falcon.”
The Marvel star says that despite this being his second film in the franchise, the excitement never goes away.
Star of the show – Slimer. Pic. Columbia Pictures
The production used two versions of the car for Frozen Empire – remaking one with a Corvette engine for the high-speed shots.
Wolfhard says it was “insanely powerful”, but would constantly overheat and choke as they began to film a scene.
Ghostbusters cast’s friendships
Filming for the new movie took three months, and Rudd says the majority of downtime for the cast was spent together “without mobile phones”.
The Proton packs were so heavy that the crew installed pieces of wood for the cast to rest them on between takes and it gave them the perfect opportunity to get to know each other.
Pic. Columbia Pictures
He says he would constantly ask for stories from the originals about the first film.
He has one stand-out memory of Ernie Hudson… his choice of treat.
“Ernie would always have those Tootsie Pops he loved – he had a real sweet tooth,” explains Rudd.
Hudson thinks it’s hilarious that that’s what Rudd remembers of him and adds it was simply to “fight the hunger urge”.
Ghostbusters and Finn Wolfhard’s directorial feature debut
In between filming for Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire, Wolfhard made his directorial feature debut with Hell of a Summer.
(L-R) Celeste O’Connor, Finn Wolfhard, James Acaster, Logan Kim and Dan Aykroyd. Pic. Columbia Pictures
The comedy-horror premiered at the Toronto film festival in September last year.
His co-director Billy Bryk also featured in the first reboot as Zahk and the duo began writing the script during its production.
“I’m so in my head now”, says Wolfhard who thinks that going behind the camera has given him some new advantages and disadvantages when it comes to acting.
“I’ll see a scene in my head, I’ll think about what I look like in the future on screen and go, ‘God, you’re such an idiot right now’.”
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Jumping into the conversation, Rudd reassures his co-star, calling Wolfhard a “terrific actor and a great director,” but insists that the insecurity around filming never goes away.
‘It crosses a generation’
The first Ghostbusters film was released in 1984 and starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson.
Pic. Columbia Pictures
Eddie Murphy was originally intended for the role of Winston Zeddemore but he turned it down to do Beverly Hills Cop.
The role instead went to Hudson who says people still come up to him on the street quoting his character.
Hudson tells Sky News: “In the first Ghostbusters, because the part had been cut down from what the original part was, the guys all sort of came together and gave me a lot of the really good lines.”
The most common quotes he receives are: “It’s a big Twinkie”; “If there’s a steady pay check” and “If someone asks if you’re a God, you say yes.”
Director Gil Kenan, centre. Pic. Columbia Pictures
The 87-year-old actor says the franchise has always had its fans at the centre – something he believes is responsible for its continued success.
“It crosses a generation and the wonderful thing about Ghostbusters for me is you see a lot of sort of remakes or reboots or sequels, but a lot of times you get the feeling that it’s something the studio wants and not necessarily the fans, you know? But, this is one that I feel like the fans are asking for”.
The Firehouse. Pic. Columbia Pictures
The American actor says he was delighted to rejoin the cast and crew for Frozen Empire.
The new Ghostbusters’ film is just under two hours long.
And it does have an after-credits scene which suggests this might not be the last we see of the franchise.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in cinemas now.
A woman who was charged with selling Friends star Matthew Parry the dose of the drug that killed him has agreed to plead guilty.
Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen”, is the fifth and final defendant to strike a plea deal with prosecutors, avoiding a trial that was set to take place in September.
The 42-year-old agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the Ketamine that led to Perry’s death, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
She agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the Ketamine that led to Perry’s death, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Prosecutors had cast Sangha, a dual US and UK national, as a prolific drug dealer known to her customers as the “Ketamine Queen”, often using the term in court documents and even including it in the official name of the case.
Actor Matthew Perry in 2015. File pic: Reuters
She agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Sangha will officially change her plea to guilty at an upcoming hearing, where sentencing will be scheduled, prosecutors said.
Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician from San Diego, who is charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal overdose. Pic: AP
She is facing up to 45 years in prison.
Sangha and a doctor named Salvador Plasencia, who signed his own plea deal in June, had been the primary targets of the investigation.
Three other defendants – Mark Chavez, who it was claimed bought the drug from Sangha, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Erik Flemin – agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their cooperation, which included statements implicating Sangha and Plasencia.
Friends became one of the most popular TV shows in the world in the 1990s and 2000s
Prosecutors allege Chavez funnelled ketamine to Plasencia, securing some of the drug from a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription.
In one instance, prosecutors allege that Plasencia “charged Perry $2,000 (£1,500) a vial that cost Dr Chavez approximately $12 (£9)”.
Perry died in his home in October 2023, aged 54, after getting ketamine from his regular doctor for treatment of depression, which is an increasingly common use for the surgical anaesthetic.
The actor was taking ketamine six to eight times a day before he died, according to court documents.
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An Ozzy Osbourne documentary has disappeared from the BBC’s schedule without explanation.
The film was billed by producers as “a moving and inspirational account” of the last chapter of the metal legend’s life.
It was meant to air at 9pm on Monday on BBC One – as well as be available on iPlayer – but an episode of Fake Or Fortune? has replaced it.
Sky News has contacted the BBC for comment on why the programme, called Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, has been pulled.
The project was filmed over three years as Ozzy and his family returned to the UK, and was initially conceived as a series entitled Home to Roost.
However, as the singer’s health got worse it morphed into a one-off.
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Sharon Osbourne pays emotional tribute to Ozzy
The BBC reported the show would reveal the “extraordinary rollercoaster” of the Osbournes’ lives as Ozzy tries “heroically” to get fit enough to perform again.
It’s said to feature “unique and intimate access” to the family, including Ozzy’s children, Jack and Kelly, who appeared in the reality series that made them household names in the early 2000s.
The Black Sabbath frontman, who had Parkinson’s disease, died last month – just a few weeks after his final all-star gig at Birmingham’s Villa Park.
Fans packed the city centre and chanted his name when his hearse passed through on 30 July.
His wife, Sharon, was in tears as she got out to see the mass of flowers left for him at “Sabbath Bridge”.
The New York Times said his death certificate gave the cause as cardiac arrest, but the family hasn’t commented.
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