'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' trailer drops and Paul Rudd and McKenna Grace deliver the feels

The first trailer for "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" debuted Monday morning.

December 9, 2019, 4:55 PM

The first trailer for "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" debuted Monday morning.

Until now, the plot of the film, which ignores the events of the infamous 2016 reboot, had been under wraps. But if you're a fan of the 1984 original, the trailer will give you all the feels.

The new trailer shows McKenna Grace as Phoebe, a teen who moves with her single mom to the small town of Summerville and into her grandfather's rickety old house and barn, just as the town begins experiencing strange, seemingly inexplicable earthquakes.

Paul Rudd plays a local teacher interested in the phenomena -- and more so when Phoebe finds some old junk her grandfather left her including a ghost trap used by the Ghostbusters in the first two movies.

The trailer eventually makes clear that Phoebe is the granddaughter of Ghostbuster Dr. Egon Spengler -- played by the original "Ghostbusters" co-creator and star, the late Harold Ramis.

Rudd's character shows Phobe what ghostbusting entailed in earlier days. "In the '80s, New York City was like 'The Walking Dead,'" he explains, showing footage of the Ghosbusters' Ecto-1 driving down the streets of ghost-ravaged Manhattan.

PHOTO: The teaser poster for the 2020 film, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," was released on Dec. 6, 2019.
The teaser poster for the 2020 film, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," was released on Dec. 6, 2019.
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Under a tarp in that creepy old barn, left by her granddad is that very ghost busting vehicle -- the Ecto 1 -- complete with the original team's proton packs and other equipment.

"Call it fate. Call it luck. Call it karma," Bill Murray's Dr. Peter Venkman says in a voiceover from the original film -- a nod that he, co-creator Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts are returning in their original roles.