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Following the limited box-office success of "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," there's an argument that now might finally be the time to give up the ghost (corps) for good. Five films in, and the numbers suggest that the franchise isn't what it used to be. But then, had Ivan Reitman had his way, he probably wouldn't have let it get that far. During an appearance on Neal Brennan's "Blocks" podcast, Reitman's son and director of "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," Jason Reitman, revealed why his father never returned to the firehouse after "Ghostbusters II" to give the world a "Ghostbusters III." In an industry that thrived on giving us more of the same, Ivan Reitman was happier doing anything but, and might've preferred shutting the trap for good after "Ghostbusters" in 1984.

"My dad never understood sequels. My dad was like, 'I don't know why people want to return to this stuff,'" Jason Reitman explained.

Warning: The following contains mild spoilers for the Ghostbusters franchise.

Yes, Ghostbusters is a horror movie – gateway horror to be exact. Setting aside the fact that the title literally contains the word “ghost,” a foundational element of the scariest genre, the franchise follows a group of paranormal researchers who battle entities attacking from beyond the grave. After countless rewatches, the classic films and newer sequels may not scare us much anymore, but how many times have we as genre fans asserted that a film does not have to be “scary” to be considered horror?

Genre classification is nebulous and any film that centers on ghosts has a place in the sprawling house of horror. Yes, it’s true that most viewers over the age of thirteen will find more to laugh about than scream while watching a Ghostbusters film, but each entry contains a handful of terrifying moments. With Gil Kenan...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "Ghostbusters II"

Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max

The Pitch: It didn't do well at the box office. Some people call it a bad sequel. I have never understood this. It's not that I don't get the criticisms or that people have different opinions. It makes total sense that viewers are attached to what they saw the first time -- the discovery of ghosts, a large and angry marshmallow, and the very funny interactions of several misfits and weirdos who try to hunt them. All of that said, there is a place in my heart for "Ghostbusters II," and it's higher up than the original.

If you were put off by the negative hype and didn't see this film,...

We knew that Final Fantasy 16 was going to be an untraditional Final Fantasy game in several ways, but we now know the game will draw from some truly unusual sources that include divisive sequels to classic ’80s comedies.

In an extensive interview with IGN, Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai, localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, creative director Kazutoyo Maehiro, and producer Naoki Yoshida took the time to share some new details about the game. While the entire interview is fascinating (reporter Kat Bailey’s interviews rarely miss), some of the most incredible tidbits to emerge from the discussion concern some of the game’s outside influences.

For instance, the Ff 16 team was asked about whether or not the 2023 game’s medieval atmosphere and slightly more politically-driven storytelling were at all influenced by Game of Thrones or The Witcher. Here’s what Michael-Christopher Koji Fox had to say on that subject:

“The two series being so prominent,...

Legendary actor Max von Sydow is the latest addition to the cast of Game of Thrones, taking over the role of the Three-eyed Raven in the upcoming sixth season.

Von Sydow will also be cropping up in Star Wars: The Force Awakens this December, further extending his jaw-dropping run of incredible big screen roles. We take a look back at five of von Sydow's greatest parts below.

The Exorcist (1973)

William Friedkin's horror masterpiece was one of the great films of the '70s. Right at the heart of it was the battle between Linda Blair's possessed Regan and von Sydow's exorcist Father Merrin. Von Sydow was just 44 when the film was released, getting aged up into a stately-looking man of God thanks to cutting-edge prosthetics.

Speaking to Digital Spy back in 2012, von Sydow admitted that this is the movie that people always want to talk to him about.

Legendary actor Max von Sydow is the latest addition to the cast of Game of Thrones, taking over the role of the Three-eyed Raven in the upcoming sixth season.

Von Sydow will also be cropping up in Star Wars: The Force Awakens this December, further extending his jaw-dropping run of incredible big screen roles. We take a look back at five of von Sydow's greatest parts below.

The Exorcist (1973)

William Friedkin's horror masterpiece was one of the great films of the '70s. Right at the heart of it was the battle between Linda Blair's possessed Regan and von Sydow's exorcist Father Merrin. Von Sydow was just 44 when the film was released, getting aged up into a stately-looking man of God thanks to cutting-edge prosthetics.

Speaking to Digital Spy back in 2012, von Sydow admitted that this is the movie that people always want to talk to him about.

The news of an all-female Ghostbusters reboot has been met with decidedly mixed reactions in certain corners of the internet. But whether they're for or against Feig's proposed reboot, nobody has a good word to say about the original film's sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989), and this, frankly, will not stand. Though perceived as a failure, the sequel is a far, far better film than its reputation suggests.

Five years on from the phenomenal success of the original, Ghostbusters II reassembles all the same creative elements - scripting by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman as director, the entire cast reprising their roles. The key players were famously reluctant, but the film had made a ridiculous amount of money and spawned the hugely successful spin-off cartoon The Real Ghostbusters, so the follow-up was inevitable.

Despite a briefly record-breaking opening weekend of $29 million, Ghostbusters II went on to make a mere $112 million at the Us box office,...

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Ghostbusters II. It may not be everyone's favorite movie, but when I was a kid I loved it just as much as the first one. It's really not that bad of a movie, sure it had some really cheesy parts, and I wasn't a big fan of what they did with Janine, but it was still entertaining. One of my favorite parts of the film when I was a kid is when they hooked the Nes Advantage joystick up to the Statue of Liberty and walked it into New York City to save the day.  I thought is was so freakin' cool.

Since it is the 25th anniversary of the film, I thought it would be fun to share few interesting bits of trivia about the movie that you might not know. So here are ten of them that I picked out from Imdb:

Originally,...

by Nick Schager

[This week's "Retro Active" pick is inspired by Kevin James' Ufc comedy Here Comes the Boom.]

It's hustler versus hustler in the main event of Diggtsown, Michael Ritchie's underrated 1992 boxing comedy (based on Leonard Wise's novel) about the ever-entertaining art of the con. In a small Georgia enclave known as Diggstown, due to its being home to legendary fighter Charles Macum Diggs (Wilhelm von Homburg), virtually everything is owned by John Gillon (Bruce Dern), a businessman in a light blue suit and flashing a giant, cocky smile who intends to soon hand the reigns of his empire over to son Robby (Thomas Wilson Brown). That plan, however, is rudely interrupted by the arrival of professional con man Gabriel Caine (James Woods), recently paroled and motivated by inside information about Gillon from a Diggstown-hailing inmate known as Wolf (Randall "Tex" Cobb) to visit the area in order to pull off a grand scheme. Caine's release from jail after helping another pal break out,...

Nostalgia. It's a powerful thing. All of us have experiences in our life that we look back on with something beyond fondness, often wishing, sometimes desperately, that we could go back and relive those moments. Numerous scientific studies have shown that the mind tends to amplify happy moments into something far larger than the actual events. So in that vein, nostalgia tends to work as a reward system for the brain. Happiness is a natural state for human beings. We want to be happy and, when we take part in experiences that make us happy, our brain loves revisiting and magnifying those times so that it can be made happy again.

Movies in particular evoke an incredible amount of nostalgia among the movie-going public. And lo, we come to one of the greatest, if not the greatest, film franchise of the 1980s - Ghostbusters. The NYC comedy about the adventures...

Let's just chalk this up as a rumor for right now but this story arc could actually work if they do end up making Ghostbusters 3. The question is will Bill Murray do this film or with a cool story like this do they even need him now?

Rumor Sub-Plot:

Much like Steven Spielberg did with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (where Mutt Williams is Indy and Marion's love-child), Ivan Reitman is looking to kick-start a new franchise with a ghost bustin' love-child of their own.

Early word from an insider is that the (hinted at) love affair between Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) has a much bigger impact on the franchise than just an angry Vigo (Wilhelm von Homburg).

From what we're told, it will be revealed that Dana's son Oscar is in fact Peter's child as well. Furthermore, Oscar...

Round and round we go. Every few weeks some more Ghostbusters 3 news rears its head; yet, we're still not one step closer to seeing this thing come to fruition. Today we have a few plot details for you. At least they could be plot details. Honestly, who knows?

The latest bits of info come courtesy of our buds at Bloody Disgusting:

"Much like Steven Spielberg did with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (where Mutt Williams is Indy and Marion's love-child), Ivan Reitman is looking to kick-start a new franchise with a ghost bustin' love-child of their own.

Early word from an insider is that the (hinted at) love affair between Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) has a much bigger impact on the franchise than just an angry Vigo (Wilhelm von Homburg).

From what we're told, it will be revealed that...