Ghostbusters: Afterlife will now haunt theaters a little later than expected. The paranormal comedy’s theatrical debut was moved to November 19, taking the spot originally held by Top Gun: Maverick.

This all comes after Paramount pushed back the release of many of their upcoming movies to later in 2022, including the aforementioned Top Gun, Jackass Forever, and Mission: Impossible 7. The Ghostbusters sequel was originally intended to hit theaters on November 11, but the new slot allows the film to dodge some stiff competition in Marvel‘s Eternals which drops on November 5. Thankfully, it’s only a slight delay meant more to capitalize on a vacated, more advantageous position for Sony.

It’s definitely not the first time the anticipated film has been pushed back. Ghostbusters: Afterlife was destined to be a summer blockbuster of 2020 until the pandemic made that reality impossible. As things began to open back up, the film was rescheduled for June 2021, but ongoing pandemic concerns due to the surging Delta variant urged Sony to push the film back again to the fall.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a direct follow-up to the original films in the beloved paranormal comedy series directed by Jason Reitman and produced by his father and original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman. It features series mainstays Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts along with some fresh faces in Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, and Paul Rudd, among others. The film involves a single mother (Coons) and her children (Wolfhard, Grace) discovering their roots and how their past intertwines with the Ghostbusters.

At an early screening during CinemaCon, critics and journalists had rave reviews for the film, considering it a true successor to the Ghostbusters name. Both agreed that it captured the nostalgia of the franchise while still bringing plenty new to the table in its own right. Here’s hoping this release date sticks so we can finally see if Ghostbusters: Afterlife truly is the best in the franchise. The film is now slated to open in theaters on November 19.

via Collider