Sara Polo Madrid
Madrid
Updated Monday, March 18, 2024-9:31 p.m.
Internet liars say that the new
Ghostbusters
is a little less than a
woke
ode against climate change.
Its director,
Gil Kennan
, flatly denies this , although he concedes that he has always approached the legendary franchise with the idea of "understanding what is wrong in the world and how we can fix it."
"But I think there are places we have to know not to get into," he says.
Recently released as a director after the step back of
Jason Reitman
, son of the original creator who, after his death in 2022, decided that it was too intense, Kennan made a lightning visit to Madrid yesterday to present
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
, the fourth sequel of the franchise and second of a trilogy not yet confirmed but that will clearly be completed.
He did it with three of his protagonists:
Paul Rudd
, again at the head of the Spengler family as a sign of continuity and the very young
Finn Wolfhard
and
McKenna Grace
as a promise for the future.
"What is interesting in the film is considering what home is and what we are willing to risk to protect it," continues the director.
Perhaps, he says, the freezing ghost that threatens the world with a new ice age is not so much a metaphor for our climatic future as "an allegory for the fear of losing loved ones."
Okay, we concede.
Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd star in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.SONY PICTURES
The return home thing is literal in an installment that returns to the legendary New York fire station of
Hook & Ladder Company 8
after a brief adventure in Oklahoma.
Kennan and Reitman Jr. spent some time at the place, in the middle of the bustle, to get inspired and present his story to the patriarch.
Ivan Reitman
approved where they wanted to take the saga and
the result arrives in theaters on Friday
.
For
Paul Rudd
, the most exciting moment of filming was, precisely, the entry of the entire cast into the red brick building.
Especially the original ghostbusters, those from 1984, who this time, yes, put on the suits again and carry the proton packs to roll up their sleeves and save the world.
«It was tremendously emotional.
Annie Potts
,
Bill Murray
,
Dan Aykroyd
and
Ernie Hudson
walking around full of memories, seeing how little had changed since they recorded there.
"It was a nice shot of nostalgia," says the actor, who knows the place well because he lives just three blocks away.
Nostalgia is the main engine of a franchise that inevitably awakens memories from the first verses of its tune:
"
Who you gonna call?"
»
.
While the interviews took place inside the Ritz hotel, at the doors a group of perfectly customized fans posed with the tourists in front of a reproduction of the
Ecto 1
.
Their proton packs, official replicas, weighed the same as the originals: 18 kilos.
The original Ghostbusters cast returns to save the world.SONY PICTURES
Does
Paul Rudd
, at the time, Ant-Man, feel more or less pressure from these fans than from the relentless criticism of Marvel fans?
"He is different," the actor escapes from the choice.
«There is a moment when you have to stop thinking about it because it weakens you a lot.
You can only trust that all the pieces align to achieve a good final result.
It's already miraculous to make a movie, the actor just has to cross his fingers and immerse himself in the role.
The rest remains outside of his control.
If
Paul Rudd fulfilled a childhood dream by hanging the legendary proton backpack on his shoulder,
McKenna Grace
did no less
despite her young age.
Her character, Phoebe, Rudd's stepdaughter in fiction, claims to be a top-level
ghost hunter
and almost, almost as a woman against an adult society that reduces her to "a minor."
«I've been with this character for five years and I still don't believe it.
I have always been a big fan,
I dressed up for Halloween when he was 11 years old, he had a lot of t-shirts, it's crazy to be here
," he exclaims.
Without spoilers, Frozen Empire confirms the two youngest members of the team as the third generation of hunters.
"They are the most qualified, we will not stand in their way," says Rudd.