The plot follows a group of eccentric New York City parapsychologists who investigate and eliminate ghosts, paranormal manifestations, demigods, and demons.

The franchise expanded with licensed action figures, books, comics, video games, television series, theme park attractions, and other branded merchandise.

Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, and Ernie Hudson, it was released in the United States on June 8, 1984.

Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, Hudson, Weaver, Potts, and Moranis reprised their roles from the first film, and were joined by Peter MacNicol and Wilhelm von Homburg, among others.

A single mother and her children move to an Oklahoma farm they inherited from her estranged father, Egon Spengler, who went on a mission to prevent an apocalypse.

The cast includes Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd,[7][8][9][10] and were joined by Logan Kim and Celeste O'Connor, among others.

Grace, Wolfhard, Coon, Rudd, Kim and O'Connor reprise their roles from Afterlife, and were joined by Kumail Nanjiani, and Patton Oswalt, among others.

A group of eccentric researchers make discoveries within paranormal incidents with their intentions being to detect and capture ghosts, and protect New York City from those spirits.

The film principally features a new cast, starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon as the all-female Ghostbuster team, along with Chris Hemsworth as their male receptionist.

Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, and the Russo brothers pitched the movie to the studio, and was confirmed to supplement and be in development simultaneously with Paul Feig's Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, and intended to be the first installment in a series of films inspired by Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Ivan Reitman described its development as being in line with the plans and production bible that they had created thirty years prior during the original film; the purpose of the project was "to build the Ghostbusters into the universe it always promised it might become".

[28] In February 2022, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller announced that they had been attached to the project during its development stages, also saying that there is still potential at the studio that the film will be green-lit in the future.

As the series progressed, the regular Real Ghostbusters episodes started to become lighter in tone so as not to frighten the growing fanbase of young children.

[48][page needed] Aykroyd came up with Ghostbusters after reading an article about quantum physics and parapsychology in the American Society of Psychical Research Journal and then watching movies like Ghost Chasers.

[58] The fate of the script remained unknown until 2006, when Ramis affirmed that a variation of Aykroyd's Hellbent script was still being considered for the sequel; to reduce the need for special effects and reduce production costs, Ramis had conceived a framing device of having the alternate version of Manhattan exist between moments in time, and featured situations of constant gridlock and where everyone spoke a different language in an otherwise unmodified version of the city.

[75] Initially, Sony/Columbia said that Ramis's role in the film had been minimal and would not affect production, but Reitman felt that the screenplay had to be reworked to better account for this, and approached the studio with his concerns.

During production of the 2016 Ghostbusters, Reitman stated that Sony Pictures had been coming off a series of flops, and were looking into a property comparable to the Marvel Cinematic Universe from which they could pull sequels, side stories, and other options for several years to follow.

In March 2015, Deadline wrote that an all-male lead Ghostbusters film was being developed by Sony's Ghost Corps label, with Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt starring.

Directed by Reitman, and produced by Jeffrey Abelson, the video organically integrated footage of the film in a specially designed haunted house, lined with neon in its entirety.

The film footage was intercut with a humorous performance by Parker and featured cameo appearances by celebrities who joined in the call and response chorus, including Chevy Chase, Irene Cara, John Candy, Nickolas Ashford, Melissa Gilbert, Jeffrey Tambor, George Wendt, Al Franken, Danny DeVito, Carly Simon, Peter Falk, and Teri Garr.

The National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) released a line of 7" scale action figures based on the first movie, but only produced a series of ghost characters, as Murray refused the rights to use his facial likeness.

[143] Art Asylum's Minimates toy line features a Ghostbusters sub-line, including a box set of characters from the 2009 video game.

This 6" line featured Peter, Ray, Egon, Winston, Gatekeeper Dana, Keymaster Louis, Walter Peck, Vigo the Carpathian, and most of the ghosts including a giant Mr Stay Puft.

Mattel also offered a series of 12" figures with fabric clothing and light-up proton packs/slime blowers, as well as a number of replica toy props such as the PKE Meter & Ghost Trap.

In 2017, Playmobil also produced a toy line featuring the Ghostbusters and essential elements from the first movie, including Dana Barret, the Marshmallow Man and Ecto-1.

Set six months after the Gozer incident, the series was designed to follow the Ghostbusters as their initial fame faded and they returned to the regular chore of busting ghosts on a daily basis.

The series sees the team run ragged as a spate of supernatural crimes and other related occurrences plague the city, as well as contemplating the greater effects of their success beyond the immediate media attention.

Taking place between the second film and the game, the manga featured a series of one-shot stories from several different artists and writers, as well as a subplot involving Jack Hardemeyer (from the second movie) and a vengeful army of ghosts attempting to get revenge on the Ghostbusters.

From September 2011 through December 2012, IDW published an ongoing series that ran 16 issues, written by Erik Burnham with art by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado.

[164] The success of the series launched a sequel—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 2—three years later, with an accompanying assortment of action figures blending the Turtles' and the Ghostbusters' physical features.