With the exception of its brief detour into Oklahoman farm country, the Ghostbusters franchise is synonymous with New York City. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will see the titular spook hunters continue their supernatural adventures in the Big Apple, but the next sequel could take place overseas.
While speaking to the Daily Mail, franchise stalwart Day Aykroyd revealed that he has an idea in mind which involves the Ghostbusters traveling to Britain. What’s more, he was inspired after holidaying in Scotland, one of the world’s premiere supernatural and paranormal hotspots, if you believe in that sort of thing.
“The studios are state of the art and vie with anything we have in Hollywood. And I have an idea for a sequel I would set here in the UK. There are lots of ghosts and mythical creatures in Scotland. I put a thousand miles on the car driving up there, and it was wonderful. I went to Skye, to the Glencoe Valley, Edinburgh, Glasgow… I loved it.”
Aykroyd might be onto something here. Scottish mythology is rife with tales and legends pertaining to creatures, spirits, sea monsters, and zombie-like neds drinking Buckfast on the last bus home. Every place the Ghostbusters star mentioned is renowned for its haunted history, and they only represent a small portion of the spooky country’s haunted legacy.
But what are some of the myths and legends that the potential Ghostbusters sequel could explore?
Skye boasts the infamous Duntulm Castle, which is said to host the spirit of Hugh MacDonald, a starved lunatic who’s prone to brawling with some of the castle’s other spooks, including his sworn enemy, Donald Gorm Mor. I don’t know about you, but I think a Ghostbusters film that features old Hugh getting into tiffs with his paranormal peers has a lot of potential.
Meanwhile, in Glencoe, it’s said that the victims of the 1692 Glencoe massacre reappear every February and re-enact the horrific events that led to their blood-soaked deaths. The list goes on, and let’s not forget that Scotland is also the home of kelpies, Nessie, and other terrifying creatures.
Of course, that’s all just a pipedream for now. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will have to do the business at the box office before any future sequels are greenlit. Furthermore, we don’t even know if the spectre fighters will even survive the apocalyptic threat that engulfs New York in the upcoming sequel, which is slated for release in March 2024.
That being said, a Ghostbusters set in the United Kingdom would be a full-circle moment for this franchise. Aykroyd was inspired to create the original Ghostbusters film due to his grandfather’s experience with Britain’s paranormal history, so it’s only fitting that he explores it in a future franchise installment.
“It has always been in my family,’ Aykroyd told the Daily Mail. “My great-grandfather was an Edwardian spiritualist. My dad wrote a book about the history of ghosts. I grew up with it.”
