Netflix Greenlights ‘Ghostbusters’ Animated Series, Taps Elliott Kalan as Showrunner

Netflix has greenlit the animated Ghostbusters series first announced in 2022, Variety is reporting. In addition, Variety has learned that Elliott Kalan has boarded the project as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.

The show was first reported to be in development at the streamer back in June 2022. Exact plot details are still under wraps, but sources say the 3D animated series will be tonally in line with the recent Ghostbusters films.

As previously reported, the series hails from Sony Pictures Animation, with Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan of Ghost Corps, Inc. onboard as executive producers. Reitman and Kenan recently co-wrote the live-action features Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, with Reitman directing the former and Kenan directing the latter. Production on the series will be handled by Netflix and Ghost Corps, Inc., which is based at Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

Reps for Netflix and Sony did not immediately respond to Variety’s request comment.

Kalan is best known for his time as the head writer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. During his time with the show, he was part of the team that received seven consecutive Emmy nominations for best writing for a variety series, winning four. After that, Kalan was the head writer of the Netflix revival of the cult hit series Mystery Science Theater 3000. He is also known for co-hosting The Flop House podcast and for writing the comic book series Spider-Man and the X-Men.

He is repped by Verve, Artists First, and Schreck Rose.

This will be the third Ghostbusters cartoon series in franchise history. Previously, The Real Ghostbusters animated series aired for 140 episodes, mostly on ABC and in syndication, from 1986-1991. It continued the adventures of the characters from the original film. It was followed by Extreme Ghostbusters, which aired for 40 episodes in syndication. That show featured a mostly new lineup of characters, though the team was led by Egon Spengler.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife premiered in November 2021. It was well-received by critics and went on to gross nearly $200 million worldwide against a reported budget of $75 million. Frozen Empire, meanwhile, premiered in March 2024 and earned just over $200 million worldwide against a $100 million budget.

H/T: Special thanks to @916786wc for the news!