NEWS ARCHIVE
Please note that all I know about Ghostbusters 3 is listed on this page.
Interview David Sheff conducted with Dan Aykroyd, that appeared in the American edition of Playboy magazine:
| Playboy: | Will you continue to make sequels -- whether based on the Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Coneheads or others? |
| Aykroyd: | As long as there is something new to do with them and it's enjoyable. It's kind of nice to have built-in franchises. The one I don't think we'll necessarily further exploit is Ghostbusters. It looks like that's about had its run. |
| Playboy: | Because Ghostbusters II did poorly? |
| Aykroyd: | Yeah. It opened and Batman opened the next weekend and wiped us out that summer. Although we made a good movie, it just wasn't as commercially successful as everybody thought it would be. If I could get that team together, it would be a real dream, because I think there's a great story to be told. But it won't be for a while. |
February 7-12, 1994 [unsure of exact date]:
WWOR Channel 9 News:
| Pat Collins: | Raise your hands if you want another Ghostbusters movie. Dan says it could happen. |
| Dan Aykroyd: | Ah, it might happen. I've got a story in mind that I'm thinking about. So, we'll see, we'll see. It's certainly something I always wanted to do. It's just getting the other players together. |
December 18, 1995:
America Online internet chat with Dan Aykroyd:
| Question: | Will you be doing another Ghostbuster movie? |
| Dan Aykroyd: | Have script, will travel, but not with all of the original players. |
November 17, 1997:
Time magazine:
A segment from "Sony's Blockbuster Sequel" -- by Kim Masters
[John] Calley [chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment] also gets credit for saving the big summer '98 film, Godzilla, and he plans a slew of sequels and recyclings. He has approved follow-ups to My Best Friend's Wedding, Jumanji and Bad Boys. Naturally you'll see more Men in Black. And, as Calley observes, "we can make Zorro forever if it works." His plans also include another Ghostbusters installment and movie versions of such TV shows as I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched.
February 10, 1998:
Hollywood Online:
A segment from "Dan Aykroyd Turns From "Blues Brothers" to "Ghostbusters""
With "Blues Brothers 2000" under his belt, Aykroyd may turn his attention to reviving "Ghostbusters." The biggest comedy hit of 1984, it was sequelized five years later in another huge hit, "Ghostbusters II." "Harold (Ramis) and I have a treatment that we really like," reports Aykroyd. "It's just a matter of writing it now. We're going to try to do it this summer."
Among the hurdles facing "Ghostbusters III" is the fact that Bill Murray and director Ivan Reitman do not want to return.
"The concept is still strong and I think that Harold and I can pull it off, if we have the time," responds Aykroyd. "The concept is that there's a positive image of life and there's a negative image of life. Hell is not some distant place, far away from this dimension or realm. Hell is right next door. It's like those old tintype photos where you turn them one way and they look positive, then you just flick them slightly and they look negative. That's our concept. Given the right technology you could flip the switch and all of a sudden the positive that we see in this room suddenly becomes negative. It's kind of neat.
"We're going to set it in New York and do a Hades version of New York, very close to life in the city as we perceive it now. You look down at the river and there's a ferry of Wall Street commuters, except they're being shoved off with pitchforks into the river which is now boiling blood. Flick it back and it's just the Brooklyn Bridge and just a normal traffic jam. Carrying that through, I think we can have a lot of fun."
March 10, 1998:
Aint It Cool News:
"Ghostbusters 3 & 4 News!!!"
It was confirmed today at the official All Star Cafe by screen writer and actor Dan Aykroyd, that Ghostbuster's 3 will end with "To Be Concluded." (Like the end of Back to the Future 2.) Dan was quoted in saying to USA Today reporter, Danielle Gray that, "It was unintentional. But when we actually began planning the movie with Columbia, we found out that the script was just too long to view in one sitting." Dan also told reporters that Columbia didn't like the idea of making a fourth installment to what was "supposed" to be a trilogy, so they told him to cut some scenes out. However, even though Dan took several scenes cut, Columbia found that the movie was still too long, and agreed, after Dan rufused to cut anymore scens from his script, to make the last two hours a whole other movie that will be out nine months after Ghostbusters 3 hits theaters. On that note, the question arises: "Will this delay Ghostbusters 3 arrival in theaters?" Well, if Columbia decides to run production for both part 3 and 4 at the same time, then the answer is "Yes." This is most likely what will happen since the same cast and scenes will be used for both movies. It would be much more economical for Columbia to take that route, but nonethelessmuch more discouraging for the millions of Ghostbuster fans around the world awaiting part 3. I'll keep you updated on the situation. (Look for this report to be in the March 10th paper in USA Today.)
EDITORS SIDE NOTE:
Bill Emkow checked the March 10, 1998 issue of USA Today and there was nothing in there about it. Oscar has said, "I called USA Today ... and tried to find out what the story was. ... I asked them what was up with the interview about Ghostbuster 3 and 4 and why Danielle's interview wasn't even mentioned in today's edition as promised. ... Danielle and [I] spoke VERY briefly about the matter. She told me that she had some wrong information and that she couldn't get to press in time. I asked her what kind of wrong info and she told me that Columbia didn't have the rights to GB 3 and 4, but Sony did. By the time her editor found the mistake, it was too late to go to press. She is uncertain on whether the story will be covered at all anymore being that USA Today is a paper that deals with the present."
March 20, 1998:
Ultimate TV:
A segment from "Little Screen to Big Screen" -- by Shelly Lyons
Dan Aykroyd ... will also star in "Ghostbusters III," which, though slated to premiere in 1999, will probably begin advertising in theatres any day now.
April 21, 1998:
GIST internet chat with Ernie Hudson that I participated in:
| Paul_Rudoff: | ... I'm sure I speak for everyone when I ask, Are you going to be involved in the Ghostbusters 3 film? Has Dan Aykroyd spoken to you about it? |
| Ernie Hudson: | No I haven't spoken to Dan Aykroyd. The script has to worthy of the 1st ghostbusters and the part has to be more involved in the storyline |
April 23, 1998:
Internet chat with Ernie Hudson:
Usffreak asks: Are you going to be in the next Ghostbusters film?
ErnieHudson says: I've been hearing rumors about a 3rd film. I talked to Danny Akyroyd and Harold Ramis who wrote the first two. Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman have been reluctant. Assuming there's going to be a third one, and assuming I'll be asked, I'd like to be a part of it if the script is good. You don't want to be doing a movie, just to be doing a movie.
(the text comes from the official chat transcript)
April 30, 1998:
SFX (the leading Science Fiction magazine in the United Kingdom):
GHOSTBUSTERS III
(Columbia)
A revival of Ghostbusters has been confirmed. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have a script, in part dealing with the quitting of Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver's characters, which Ramis will direct. Aykroyd is said to have stated that the film will end with a "to be concluded," and a fourth film will be made back-to-back to be released nine months after the third.
(info provided by Alex Talpur)
May 1, 1998:
Dark Horizons:
Dan Aykroyd revealed he will be going up to Canada shortly to meet with Ivan Reitman and a new writer to discuss and work on the script for this second sequel. Looks like the project is going ahead after all.
May 12, 1998:
Dark Horizons:
Dan Aykroyd revealed in a recent interview that he had already met with Harold Ramis about the script and confirmed the pair are writing it with another, younger writer (no name mentioned). Ivan Reitman will be onboard as exec. producer while Ramis will also direct it.
July 8, 1998:
Dark Horizons:
Seems Bill Murray may be reconsidering not being in the film, depending upon the script's quality. Meanwhile preliminary shots have supposedly already been taken for the pre-production process. The rumoured start of shooting date right now is mid-October.
July 27, 1998:
Cinescape:
"Sony Rushes Sequels"
Sony president John Calley reveals to Variety that jump-starting the studio's potential franchise flicks is the top priority heading into 1999. Among the follow-ups that the suit says are high on the list include Men In Black 2 (which is "being cobbled together" according to a report in the trade paper) with Barry Sonnenfeld directing Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Linda Fiorentino. Additionally, Sony hopes to have The Mask of Zorro 2, Ghostbusters 3, Bad Boys 2 and Jumanji 2 underway soon as well as big-budget feature remakes of Charlie's Angels and Flash Gordon that are currently in development.
August 14, 1998:
The Sci-Fi Channel's "Sci-Fi Entertainment" news magazine program: Ghostbusters 3 is now much more than an apparition, as Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have begun working on the screenplay. The director of the original film, Ivan Reitman, has met with the ghostbusting duo and may executive produce the third installment.
(Thanks to Justin Whipkey for first spotting this news brief.)
November 3, 1998:
Internet chat with Dan Aykroyd:
| raysoccult: | Please deny or confirm GB3 even if it is top secret. |
| Dan Aykroyd: | Harold and I are working on story points now for GB3 and expect to have a script to present to Sony in a few months. |
December 2, 1998:
Cinescape:
"'Ghostbusters 3' Crawls Forward?"
Yours truly put in a call to the production offices of Harold "Egon" Ramis, in an effort to confirm a comment allegedly made by Dan Aykroyd during an online chat (previously covered in the Insider) that he and Ramis were nearly ready to turn in a first draft of a Ghostbuster 3 script for Sony. According to a source close to the project, the film is indeed being worked on, but any rumors that suggest it's anywhere but in the early planning stages are slime-worthy. It's been confirmed that Aykroyd is working on a script at this time. Is Ramis involved? "Let's just say they talk," quipped our source cryptically. Perhaps Sony will choose to cut through the ghost-like haze surrounding this project soon with official word on its development, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
December 5, 1998:
Playboy -- January 1999 issue, page 256:
"Oh Danny Boy"
Dan Aykroyd followed Blues Brothers 2000 with the next installment of Ghostbusters (number three for those who are counting).
January 14, 1999:
The Encore cable channel (when Scott Patrick introduced GB1 on 1-14-1999):
Dan Aykroyd says he's currently working on Ghostbusters 3. Now, sadly, there were plans to have the late Chris Farley join the team.
January 27, 1999:
Cinescape:
"Ramis Debunks 'GB3' Rumors"
Harold Ramis is dismissing any rumors regarding a Ghostbusters 3 happening any time in the near future. While talking to columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith, the actor-writer-director pointed out one major reason that the original Ghostbusters cast will not likely be re-assembled saying, "Harder than getting the script would be for Columbia to figure out a way to pay us all."
However; Ramis confirmed previous reports that Dan Aykroyd had been writing a sequel, in fact two versions so far. Ramis adds that "it's more of a hobby with" Aykroyd than anything solid actually happening on a possible third GB film.
However; there is a ray of hope as Ramis reveals that if there ever is a third film, any original cast members "would just be around as mentors to a new, young cast."
February 19, 1999:
Entertainment Weekly Online:
"Who You Gonna Cast? -- Will the Ghostbusters bust again? Harold Ramis tells EW Online" -- by Josh Wolk
To provide some insight into the validity of Internet rumors touting a possible "Ghostbusters III," EW Online sat down with Harold Ramis, who cowrote the first two movies in the series and played the bespectacled spirit-slammer Dr. Egon Spengler. "Dan (Akroyd) and I talk about it on a regular basis, and he's done some writing," Ramis says. "The studio would love to make a deal, but they're not sure who to make the deal with, since Bill (Murray) is very elusive, and (original director) Ivan Reitman is kind of standing on the side. The dream plan is that Danny and I would produce it, I would direct it, and we would recruit some newer, younger, popular Ghostbusters to star."
Jumping back in front of the camera isn't a top priority for Ramis, who is concentrating on directing. (His new comedy, "Analyze This," with Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, opens March 5.) In fact, he says fans who remember him from on-screen turns in "Stripes" and "SCTV" may be in for a shock. "I did some of that stuff 20 years ago, and shall we say... my body has changed a little," Ramis admits, patting a stomach that has swelled since leaving the "Stripes" boot camp. "I was in a supermarket with my wife, and somebody said to her, 'Is that Harold Ramis?' and my wife said, 'Yes, it is.' And the woman said, 'What happened to him?'"
March 2, 1999:
Cinescape:
"Ramis On 'GB3', Again?"
It beats me why Ramis even talks about Ghostbusters 3 when just about every other interview he also dismisses it as not happening.
While talking to the Edmonton Sun, the actor/writer/director was asked once again about the limbo locked project. It's reported that Ramis said he was open to returning to the franchise and, confirming previous reports, that Dan Aykroyd is currently writing the script. Once again, though, Ramis does add that his screen time in another Ghostbusters film might be severely limited saying that he and Aykroyd would most likely only do cameos in the film. Then, he adds, "We thought we might be in it just passing the torch to some younger, slimmer guys."
March 3, 1999:
Popcorn.Co.UK:
"Exclusive: Ghostbusters 3 Script Details"
A third 'Ghostbusters' script is in development. Harold Ramis, who starred and co-wrote the 1984 original movie, told Popcorn the story will involve the original cast (Ramis, Aykroyd and Bill Murray) coming out of retirement to tutor a new set of rookie Ghostbusters to rid the world of a poltergeist plague after Hell is declared to have 'no vacancies' in the 21st century. Ramis also said that Hollywood's hottest young stars are going to be approached. Columbia Pictures will once again produce the film. Bill Murray is suddenly hot property again after his performance in 'Rushmore', and his participation may cut through the red tape which impedes other projects.
March 4, 1999:
Daily Sci-Fi:
"Movies: Bustin' Out"
Ghostbusters Ray, Venkman, and Spengler move aside for grungy replacements?
Good thing or bad thing? Back in the 80s, Ghostbusters, a little movie about klutzy paranormal investigators making good and saving New York from the menace of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was a huge hit, earning hundreds of millions, spawning a pretty good cartoon, a sequel, and lots of knockoffs. Although the sequel wasn't nearly as good, there's been talk of a third Ghostbusters movie in the works for years, and while the project was thought dead some time ago, Harold Ramis (one of the original Ghostbusters and a famous director to boot) has revealed that it's still very much alive, and casting's in progress.
Instead of the third movie concentrating on Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray (the original Ghostbusters), these guys are only playing smaller supporting roles. According to Aykroyd's script, they'll reprise their roles, except now it's the early 21st century, and they're retired. Hell gets filled up, and all other damned souls begin to roam the earth, unleashing a poltergeist plague. So, they come out of retirement like ancient Jedi masters (but klutzy ones) and train "Hollywood's hottest young stars" in the use of unlicensed nuclear reactors. After all, Ramis remarks, ""We thought we might be in it just passing the torch to some younger, slimmer guys."
While it brings back shuddering memories of "Xtreme Ghostbusters," it's probably the best way to bring back the franchise up to date. Bill Murray's hair's turned white, Harold Ramis is verging on Reuben-esque, and Aykroyd...well, let's not talk about Aykroyd. Still, who really wants to see Leonardo diCaprio crossing streams with James van der Beek?
March 20, 1999:
Toronto Sun:
A segment from "Cocktails At The Consulate"
Dan Aykroyd sang the praises of [Norman] Jewison at the shindig as well as talking about his third Ghostbusters script. "It's ready," he said. "But if we are going to make it, Harold Ramis and I might have to take less to give Bill Murray more."
April 5, 1999:
Internet chat with Ernie Hudson:
James_Bond_of_the_new_mellenium: Are the rumors true about Ghostbusters 3 and even a Ghostbusters 4?
BigStar_Celeb: I've heard them .. everyday. Someone will come up and say they read it somewhere or heard .. but no one's approached me about it.
BigStar_Celeb: It was a big franchise and it's hard to believe the studios won't try to take advantage of it. But, as far as I know, nothing definite has happened and I haven't been approached yet. I worked with Harold Ramis on "Airheads" and he talked about the studios wanting it to happen.
BigStar_Celeb: He and Danny Aykroyd were in favor but Bill Murray didn't. So, I'm not sure if they worked through all the politics that it takes to make a movie. It'd be nice to get together with the guys again ... I haven't worked with them.
BigStar_Celeb: It's nice to see everyone successful in their own area. I haven't stopped working and have been fortunate to have done a lot of great films. It's nice to have that as part of my background.
May 13, 1999:
Harold Ramis on the PBS show "Chicago Tonight":
Host: Is it true there's going to be a Ghostbusters 3?
Harold Ramis: This is a ... it's an internet fantasy.
Host: Is this an insidious rumor?
Harold Ramis: No ... it's possible. And I think that Columbia would love to ah, ... just keep the franchise going with three new Ghostbusters. You know, using us as mentors, cameos in the movie, I don't know. And we're developing a ... there's a concept floating around for a third script and a ... The studio would like to do it. Right now there's a big negotiation going on to see if the movie can actually ... if the deal can be made. The movie could be made, we don't know if the deal could be made.
(info and soundbyte provided by Winston Kotzan)
June 18, 1999:
"Entertainment Weekly" -- June 18, 1999 (page 81):
FastForward -- The latest from the home-video front
"DVD Or Bust" by Michael Giltz
Ivan Reitman is finally satisfied with Ghostbusters. For the June 29th DVD release of his 1984 hit starring Bill Murray, the director saw to it that everything looks just right, which wasn't the case with the first, supposedly definitive laserdisc edition. "I don't know what happened," he says, "but it pumped up the light level so much you saw all the matte lines. I was embarrassed about it all these years." Not only are the blacks back for DVD, all the effects shots are complete. "When we went out into release, about half dozen shots were unfinished," recalls Reitman, who had to rush his $30 million production. "It mostly had to do with the marshmallow man. The amazing thing is, people didn't care."
Reitman says that he's about to announce a new project, and while it won't be Ghostbusters 3, a second -- hopefully better -- sequel isn't out of the question. "Dan Aykroyd came to my house three weeks ago to talk about it," he confesses. "Harold [Ramis] has talked about directing, and I would produce. I don't think we've solved it yet, as far as how to do it fresh." That's simple: just Stay Puft.
(article provided by AJ Quick)
July 21, 1999:
Toronto Sun:
"All Things Being Sequel" by Jim Slotek
Dan Aykroyd shows up in town next week to help pals Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas with Home Brew, the sequel to their Bob and Doug McKenzie movie Strange Brew. So what are the odds he'll go from Bob & Doug 2 to the long-talked-about Ghostbusters 3? A lot higher, one assumes, now that the Web site www.ghostbusters3.com has been duly registered. Go to it and it takes you to the Sony Pictures Web site. These days, that sort of circumstantial evidence is a fairly strong indicator of a studio's early interest in a movie. The reason? There've been too many cases of mischievous civilians registering the movie's name.com as soon as they read about it, and holding the Web site title for ransom (as happened with David Cronenberg's eXistenZ). So securing a Web site is now one of the first things on a movie's to-do list.
July 30, 1999:
Ghostbusters.com Ivan Reitman Interview:
Q: Is there going to be a GHOSTBUSTERS 3? If so, what have you heard about it and what role shall you take on the project? Do you also know of a release date or shooting dates for the film?
A: We have talked about doing "Ghostbusters 3", but nothing is set. If we were to go ahead with the project, I would probably produce the film, not direct it.
November 12, 1999:
Dan Aykroyd on the television show "Access Hollywood":
Original tape was defective, so sorry for the poor quality.
Dan Aykroyd: Doesn't look good right now, I'm sorry to say that.
It's Dan Aykroyd's spirited battle with Sony Pictures over Ghostbusters part three.
Nancy O'Dell: How could they not possibly want to do it?
Dan Aykroyd: Because they're trying to get bargains, they're trying to get the next Blair Witch. But, you know, sometimes you have to seed for the big harvest to come in.
Aykroyd insists it would cost 120 million dollars to make a Ghostbusters sequel. This, for a mega successful franchise that has brought in a reported 1.5 billion dollars worldwide. The original was just released on DVD.
Dan Aykroyd: You're talking about billion dollar releases. Spend 120, make 500. They don't see it that way.
Nancy O'Dell: Kinda angry that they're not gonna make it?
Dan Aykroyd: No, I'm not angry at all. I'm just resigned. I'm passionate and I'm sorry I have to leave the lot because I like it there.
Aykroyd revealed he's so incensed, he's ending his 10 year business relationship with the studio, even vacating his office on the lot. And frustrating him further, that a sequel won't even be produced by a rival Hollywood studio. Sony owns the rights and he says they're not selling.
Dan Aykroyd: It's Ghostbusters 3, the new guys, it's a whole new plot. It's not like we're gonna saddle the audience with me, and Harold, and Billy again. We're gonna make a whole new movie with a whole new plot, and whole new characters.
1990s:
Ghostbusters: Hellbent Script Excerpts
Chris over at Proton Charging managed to get his hands on a copy of the Ghostbusters: Hellbent script that Dan Aykroyd wrote some time in the 1990s. Although Chris has never shared the whole thing, he has written up a review of it and leaked this very tiny excerpt about what the new ghostbusting vehicle would have been:
--------------------------------
But regardless of what the current script has in mind (and what the reality of pre-production will end up using), back in 1999, Dan Aykroyd had an idea.
And he called it the Ecto-12.
From the first draft, GB3: Hellbent script;
EXT. 59th STREET BRIDGE – NIGHTAnd, as with most movie scripts, that is all. A name and a year, and even the year is more thought than most scripts would include, but obviously, being a gearhead, Dan had some ideas. The only trouble is, he never expanded on it anywhere else.
A 1989 converted Cadillac, ECTO-12, weaves in and out of traffic.
Ain't It Cool News
Does GHOSTBUSTERS 3 Have A Ghost Of A Chance?
Hey folks, Harry here... Well, shucks... For all of those hanging on to hopes about seeing a third GHOSTBUSTERS film... well, it looks like it is as dead as a dead thing what can't move at all. And from the looks of it, it is all Bill Murray's fault!!! SO... At least you now know who to direct angry frustrated thoughts at.
At a press conference for his latest film, Denys Arcand's "Stardom", here at the TIFF [Toronto International Film Festival], Dan Aykroyd was asked what was happening with Ghostbusters 3. Bluntly, he said "it's dead". He described it as "a combination of not getting the right story, and the business side of things.". He also stated the primary reason was that Bill Murray didn't want to be involved, and that they all pretty much agreed there wouldn't be much point in doing it without him. He also said that it was a relief when they finally made the decision and he was happy just working as an actor. To my eye though, those statements seemed a tad contrived.
September 11, 2000:
SciFi.Com
Aykroyd: No Ghostbusters 3?
Dan Aykroyd told a press conference at the Toronto Film Festival that Ghostbusters 3, the rumored third installment to the popular 1980s film franchise, won't happen, according to a report on the Ain't It Cool News Web site. "It's dead," Aykroyd reportedly said.
Aykroyd, who co-starred with Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson in the original Ghostbusters, added that the sequel's demise resulted from "a combination of not getting the right story, and the business side of things." He also said that Murray didn't want to be involved, and that they all pretty much agreed there wouldn't be much point in doing it without him, AICN reported.
September 12, 2000:
Mothership.com
GHOSTBUSTERS 3 BUSTED?
By Christopher Allan Smith
The Aintitcoolnews.com site is carrying first hand quotes from Dan Aykroyd about the status, grim as it is, of the third GHOSTBUSTERS movie. Quoted by the site's Toronto Film Festival correspondent, Aykroyd said, "It's dead."
Aykroyd cited the decision of BUSTERS star Bill Murray not to participate as a major reason, but also, "a combination of not getting the right story, and the business side of things."
After the sequel GHOSTBUSTERS 2, maybe it's just as well.
January 18, 2001:
Cinescape
No 'Ghostbusters 3'?
There's a glimmer of hope that the moribund Ghostbusters 3 project might actually happen, though it may also be fading quickly. While talking to Eon Magazine, director/producer Ivan Reitman spoke of the potential project, saying, "Danny [Aykroyd] wrote a very good script [for a third film]. We have not been able to lick the combination of the creative end and the deal problems of making that film so far. So it's always sort of getting side tracked, unfortunately. I wouldn't say it's necessarily dead, but, you know. We're all getting older."
May 24, 2001:
Chicago Sun-Times
Ghostbusted
By Cindy Pearlman
So, you want to make another "Ghostbusters" film. Who you gonna call? Not Chicago native Bill Murray.
Although his bustin' buddy Dan Aykroyd has been dying to do another "Ghostbusters" for years, he reports that Our Bill is the sticking point. "No, we can't do another one--the rights are all tied up," said Aykroyd, who plays a naval intelligence officer in the blockbuster "Pearl Harbor," opening Friday.
When pressed, Aykroyd admits that Columbia Pictures, which released the first two hit films, isn't the problem. "Other parties," said Aykroyd, who finally confessed, "It's the Ghostbusters. It would be nice to get us all to agree, but impossible."
Press even more and suggest that it's Murray who is saying boo to the idea, and Aykroyd responds, "Well, there's a reason Bill won't agree. Someone once didn't agree with him. Now he doesn't agree with someone."
He paused and added, "Listen, Bill is a friend of mine and just because he doesn't want to explore this concept is no reason to impair our friendship. He wants to move on to new work and new things. I can't blame him."
Aykroyd's work includes frequent stops at Chicago's House of Blues. In Our Town, memories are thick of his old bud, the late John Belushi.
"It's hard for me to hail a cab in Chicago, because when John and I were doing `Blues Brothers,' we couldn't find a cab one night. We saw a police car, stopped it and said, `Can you give us a ride?' And the policeman did.
"So every time after that in Chicago, John and I hailed cop cars like taxis."
May 25, 2001:
IGN FilmForce
Murray Spooked by Ghostbusters 3
Bill Murray and his fellow Ghostbusters just can't agree enough for the third film to move forward...
by Brian Linder
He ain't 'fraid of no ghosts!That's what Dan Aykroyd is saying these days.Unfortunately, his fellow Ghostbusters alums don't feel the same way.Cindy Pearlman of the Chicago Sun Times recently talked with the comedic actor about his feelings toward the beloved franchise.
It seems that Aykroyd is all for doing third film in the series, but there are a multitude of problems.Aykroyd tells the paper, "No, we can't do another one - the rights are all tied up."When pressed for details, he admits that Columbia Pictures, which released Ghostbusters and the film's 1989 sequel, isn't the problem."Other parties," said Aykroyd. "It's the Ghostbusters. It would be nice to get us all to agree, but impossible."
What of all the rumors that Bill Murray is the hold-up?Aykroyd says, "Well, there's a reason Bill won't agree. Someone once didn't agree with him. Now he doesn't agree with someone.Listen, Bill is a friend of mine and just because he doesn't want to explore this concept is no reason to impair our friendship. He wants to move on to new work and new things. I can't blame him."
Bill Murray next appears in Osmosis Jones, and will follow that up with an appearance Ocean's Eleven as Nick the lounge singer.The Royal Tenenbaums and Press Your Luck are both on Murray's plate for later this year.
Aykroyd has a small serious role in Pearl Harbor, and appears in Evolution, which opens next weekend.On his slate for later this year is Woody Allen's next picture, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.
June 26, 2001:
Cinescape
Ghostbusters III News From Dan Aykroyd Aykroyd lays the franchise to rest
By Christopher Allan Smith, with Scott Collura reporting
In an interview at THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION press junket, our intrepid correspondent Scott Collura nabbed these last few words on the prospects for a GHOSTBUSTERS 3 from franchise creator/writer Dan Aykroyd.
QUESTION: Once and for all, as of today, final word on GHOSTBUSTERS III?
Aykroyd: You know, in life, one has to be able to let go of things, and I've been able to let go of that and it's been a tremendous liberation for me. For years I was consumed with trying to get that movie made and I wrote a script which is the best devil script or Hell script that has come out of Hollywood. I mean I know that it, I know it's really good.
QUESTION: You don't sound like you let go.
AYKROYD: (laughs) No, I have though, I really have. Now I can call Ivan [Reitman] and Harold [Ramis] and Billy [Murray] and say let's work on something else. But no, it will never happen.
QUESTION: How come?
AYKROYD: It's a rights issue actually. Essentially, it's not something that Billy wants to do again and for some reason, he feels that it's really a vehicle that should remain with the two first movies and he has one fifth of the rights and so he's locking off his rights and saying, "I think we should just leave that period of our time alone and I don't think we should re-visit that." And he's got the power to do that and so we'll move on and do something else. It's tremendously liberating. You know, sometimes in life, your goals and dreams, they have to change by nature of just the way life is and circumstance. And so it was tremendously liberating for me to go to the set of BEDAZZLED and say to Harold, "Harold, we're not going to do this. I'm letting it go. I'm not going to persevere anymore. When I come to you next time it will be a whole new project." And I went to each one of them and I said that, "I'm never going to call you about this movie again." So now we talk about other things.
QUESTION: Were there hard feelings at all?
AYKROYD: No, no, not really. No.
QUESTION: GHOSTBUSTERS is still a great movie.
AYKROYD: Yeah, yeah, the two of them were... they're good companion pieces. Now we have to look at new things.
August 29, 2001:
Empire Online (United Kingdom film magazine)
Sigourney's Sequel Speak
It looks like everyone is interested in which of her films Sigourney Weaver will do a sequel to next. Speaking in this month's Empire magazine, the actress was asked about two projects close to the fans' hearts - Alien 5 and Ghostbusters 3.
For the former, Sigourney admits that she's been talking to 'people' about the project, 'but I left my character not knowing even what species she was, so right now I'm a little unclear as to how things can progress.' So that's the good news. Unfortunately for fans of the Ghostbusters series, it looks like a sequel is out of the questions. 'As for a Part 3, that's highly unlikely,' Sigourney tells Empire. 'I think our bustin' days are long gone - we'd be a very sorry bunch of very old ghostbusters now.'
To read the full Public Access interview, buy the October issue of Empire magazine out on newsstands on September 1, 2001.
July 30, 2002:
IGN FilmForce
The Stax Report: Script Review of Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent!
Stax looks at Dan Aykroyd's script for the unproduced sequel.
By Stax
Stax here with my reaction to the screenplay for Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent! This 122-page first draft dated March 10, 1999 is by actor Dan Aykroyd, based on a story by Aykroyd and co-star Harold Ramis. Sadly, this highly anticipated sequel appears quite dead now. The many reasons why this Columbia Pictures-based project likely won't get off the ground are cited below.
Dan Aykroyd last addressed Ghostbusters 3 back in November 1999, several months after this draft is dated. The original Ghostbuster advised Access Hollywood that GB3 "doesn't look like it's going to happen for the same reason they aren't going to make Men in Black 2." (And we all know what happened with that project now, don't we?) "The cost is too excessive for the studio to see it to be economically feasible," said Akyroyd. "It is a shame too because everyone wants to do it. Even Bill Murray said he would work a few days on it. I did finish a script. Harold Ramis liked parts of it. [Series director] Ivan Reitman liked parts of it too. There is definitely an interest from all of the original parties involved to make it. However, the studio just does not want to take the risk. In my opinion, the successes of the other two give the impression that there is a good chance of profit for a third sequel. So unfortunately, it looks like its just not going to happen based on the studio's feelings, not from anyone else."
Harold Ramis told Entertainment Weekly back in February 1999 that the "dream plan is that Danny and I would produce it, I would direct it, and we would recruit some newer, younger, popular Ghostbusters to star." Cinescape Online reported in 1998 that the "film is rumored to follow Raymond Stantz (Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (Ramis) as they cope with Peter Venkman's (Bill Murray) departure with Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), plus their attempt to stay employed while fighting a new otherworldly entity, possibly Hades, the Greek god of the underworld."
Having now read this March 1999 draft, I can confirm that the sequel does adhere to that general plot line (at least in this draft). Without revealing too many spoilers, Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent suggests that hell (portrayed as a stygian mirror image of The Big Apple dubbed "Manhellton") has grown overcrowded and congested. As a result, hell is literally evicting people back into the world of the living in order to alleviate their congestion problem.
Obviously, this isn't good for our world so the Ghostbusters must use their latest technology to literally go to hell and ask the devil why he's doing this and to see what they can do to make him stop. Naturally, the devil - portrayed here as a Donald Trump-like mogul named Siffler - has a secret agenda that leads to a grand conflict with our titular heroes. The Ghostbusters must once again save New York City from the evil forces of the afterlife.
There is indeed a younger crop of Ghostbusters (or, as the script abbreviates it, GBs) introduced that perform much of the otherworldly legwork here. This new crew includes: Franky, a body-pierced, tough New Jersey punker; Lovell, a dread-locked dude; Moira, a pretty but uptight gymnast and science grad; and Carla, a Latino beauty. There's also Nat, a prepubescent genius whose powerful brain has made his head abnormally large. Despite his youth, Nat serves as a supervisor for the new GBs. That's all we ever get to know about these characters (we don't even learn their last names!) and they're our guides throughout most of the story.
I'm not exactly asking for brilliantly delineated characterizations here but even the original team had their own distinct personalities, voices, and senses of humor. These young bucks are practically interchangeable. They all behave and sound alike, and get along relatively well. There's no real conflict between them nor is there a dominant personality as there was amongst the original GBs. These would be the script's worst mistakes if it weren't for the revelation that these young turks aren't especially funny or charming, either.
That's what shocked and disappointed me the most about this draft of Ghostbusters 3: it was more jargon than jokes. Bill Murray/Peter Venkman doesn't appear until the end and then it's only a cameo (he's portrayed in a way you've never seen before, which was the script's most memorable gag). There's also no sign of Sigourney Weaver's character Dana nor is there any mention of her kid Oscar (remember him?), who you'd think might be included among these new, younger GBs given his importance in the last film.
Ray (Aykroyd), Egon (Ramis), and Winston (Ernie Hudson, now referred to as "Dr. Zeddemore") have prominent supporting roles here. (Louis Tully and Janine have cameos.) The action is driven forward by the younger GBs. Whenever the original GBs are in a scene, my interest - and the story itself - picked up. I've never been a huge fan of TV series or films featuring "the next generation" of characters, with Star Trek being an arguable exception (although I still prefer the classic Trek).
You fall in love with some characters for very specific reasons and sometimes it's just impossible to see new actors take over those series/franchises. I think Ghostbusters might be such a case but if these new GBs had more personality, if they were developed further, perhaps I'd have accepted the transition. I just never cared about these new Ghostbusters, though.
The plot line about hell being overcrowded and needing to evict people was relatively amusing but isn't the whole "New York is Hell" sentiment rather tired now? And I don't even want to get into the post-9/11 issues that any film about New York City being endangered will likely face now. (Of course, I compartmentalized those issues given that this script predates the tragedies.) Rather than it being the wrong time for GB3 perhaps now might actually be the perfect time for it. After all, the Ghostbusters films offer pure escapism, politically correct villains, and a wish fulfillment/fantasy about being able to save The Big Apple from (excuse the phrase) phantom menaces. I just can't say that I liked the GB3 yarn that this draft offered.
As a huge fan of the original film, I'd much rather see a GB3 where the old gang must strap their backpacks on for one last mission (even without Murray, though he'd be sorely missed) rather than see pretenders to the throne get the bulk of screen time. That's just me, though. Obviously, the series' creators see the sequel differently so I must respect their ideas. I just wasn't as entertained by this draft as I wanted to be (and I really wanted to love this script). Given that there has been no development on this project for almost three years, however, my reservations about Ghostbusters 3 appear to be moot.
November 26, 2002:
IGN FilmForce
Ghostbusters 3 Ecto-Plastered
Harold Ramis explains why.
By Steve Head
The prognosis for making Ghostbusters 3? Not good. Not good at all.
While discussing sequels at last Saturday's press conference for Analyze That, director Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters' Egon) and actor Billy Crystal discussed the prospect of a third Analyze This and a third Ghostbusters.
"We're going to combine them," said Ramis. Acknowledging actor Robert De Niro on his right, he explained, "Bob thinks he's seeing ghosts so Billy calls the Ghostbusters."
"Who am I'm gonna call?" said Crystal as if he wouldn't call anyone else.
"And these three very aging fat guys come in in really tight jumpsuits," said Ramis.
"Pantsbusters," said Crystal.
"I don't think it's going to happen," said Ramis.
"It did to me," said Crystal.
And Ramis concluded with a direct note: "We played around with it, but this one I can't see."
That's the current word. But wait, there's more. Note the new issue of Scr(i)pt magazine (Nov/Dec, 2002). Within its pages is an interview with Harold Ramis by journalist David Cohen. Of Ghostbusters 3, Ramis told Cohen: "I wrote a draft though, we had a pretty good idea - Ghostbusters go to hell. But the deal couldn't be made."
"It's sad that the economics became so overwhelming," said Cohen.
"It is," said Ramis. "We thought we'd introduce new Ghostbusters and appear as the mentors of the new Ghostbusters or not appear in it at all. Bill Murray wouldn't appear in it. I think he didn't want to see a sequel made, so he became kind of obstructionist about it."
"It's hard to do it without him," said Cohen.
"Well, it could have been three new Ghostbusters without any of us," said Ramis, "and the story Dan (Aykroyd) and I were evolving could have worked."
November 6, 2003:
Channel 4 (UK)
Dan Aykroyd: 'There Will Never Be A Ghostbusters 3'
Veteran movie comedian Dan Aykroyd has ruled out the possibility of a third Ghostbusters film - because co-star Bill Murray doesn't want to be involved.
Dan, 51, admits all the original team would like to make another installment but unless Bill changes his mind it won't happen.
He says, "Never. That will never happen. Unless Bill Murray agrees. Everyone else would love to do it, Columbia, Harold Ramis, myself, director Ivan Reitman.
"It's a five-way rights situation and Bill is locking up his piece of the rights because he feels that was work that he just wants preserved and he doesn't want it diluted.
"And as an artist I can respect that."
June 17, 2004:
MoviePoopShoot.com
Squib Central
By Joshua Jabcuga
"jojoebelownormal" writes: Hey guy, Interesting and funny article, as usual. Just a quick question though, what do you think the chances are of Ghostbusters 3 getting made? Is it permanently on the back burner...or is there a chance that we might to see the boys in gray kicking it with slimer one last time....
JJ responds: Dear Mr. Belownormal, the sequel to Ghostbusters was about as much fun as hemorrhoid surgery, but that's all relative. It represented everything I hate about sequels. The original is one of those golden geek memories that I have from my childhood. I remember seeing Ghostbusters at a now torn-down drive-in in the back of my sister's boyfriend's pickup truck. I caught the sequel on opening night with my mother. Needless to say, we were both extremely disappointed. A living, breathing Statue of Liberty walking down the middle of downtown NYC has got to be the single most all-time groan-inducing sequence in cinematic history.
Given that Bill Murray is about one role removed from a waltz with his own statue - that being the Oscar - you know he wouldn't be too keen on zippering up the ol' jumpsuit. So then, what would be the point?
In retrospect, GB2 had all the elements of a great horror/comedy, minus the fact that, well, it really wasn't all that funny. I think the film could have benefited from a trim, that's for sure. And I could have done without the ectoplasm-bukakkied Statue of Liberty. Regardless, by no means does it even come close to measuring up with the original.
Any story ideas for a third? Personally, I'd love to see Dan Akroyd train a new generation of Ghostbusters...maybe with Jimmy Fallon in the lead? And with all this "I love the 80s" bullshit going down (you can't walk into a Hot Topic without seeing some Morrissey-loving Robert Smith-wannabe freak peddling Rainbow Brite T-shirts or Karate Kid trucker hats), doesn't it seem like somebody is missing the whole nostalgia boat by not getting the Ghostbusters license out there more? Neca recently released two really cool Ghostbuster bobbleheads, one of the Staypuft Marshmallow Man and one of Slimer, and I have both sitting on my stereo right now. There will be another DVD release commemorating the movie's 20th anniversary soon, so maybe the merchandising onslaught is just beginning.
November 2004:
Latino Review
Upcoming Projects For The Cast Of Christmas With The Kranks
By Jeff Wilser
Dan Akroyd talks Ghostbusters 3 (or lack thereof)
Akroyd says that he still wants to make a Ghostbusters 3, but that it will never happen. First off, the original cast has moved on and doesn't have interest. Akroyd is open to the idea of using a younger cast, but said that without naming names, certain people will not give up their original rights to the material, meaning it can't move forward.
Akroyd has no current movies that he is working on or is scheduled to work on.
(Sorry--I know the Ghostbusters thing is old news, but this is an update, I suppose)
November 16, 2004:
MovieHole.net
Aykroyd still keen for Ghostbusters 3
As every Ghosbusters fan knows, a third film is about as likely to happen as Jessica Simpson enrolling in post-grad marketing studies at UCLA. In other words : Not too likely.
Slime-shooting Dan Aykroyd is still keen to do it. He just has a board of suits to convince. And once they learn that Bill Murray would rather have his teeth extracted than do a "Ghostbusters 3", they'll turn their attention to the pooping pigeon outside on the studio window still and away from the pitch.
Aykroyd tells Latino Review that Murray isn't the only one who's balked at the idea of doing a second sequel. Apparently 'most of the cast' have. Harold Ramis, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson co-starred in the previous films.
A couple of years back, Aykroyd mentioned that he had an idea to bring in a new young cast of "Ghosbtusters" - Will Smith's name was mentioned at one point, probably after the success of "Independence Day" and "ID4" - and he says that's still one idea he could consider - if only the rights holders of "Ghostbusters" would let him. At the moment, he says those that would make such a call - and he's not naming names - won't let him.
Funnily enough, just three short years ago, Harold Ramis mentioned something similar - and sounded quite keen to do it - in an online interview.
"I think Columbia would love to keep the franchise going with three new ghostbusters..you know.. using us as metors , cameos in the movie... I dunno, and we are developing ...there's a concept for a third script , the studio might do..right now there's a big negotiation ...going on the series..the movie consequently..if the deal can be made the movie can be made, we dunno if the deal can be made."
This is apparently the storyline of the would-be sequel : Dr's Stantz (Aykroyd), Spengler (Harold Ramis) and Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) cope with Venkman's (Bill Murray) departure. They recruit a group of young bucks and try to deal with a new wave of spooks, who are being ejected from an overcrowded hell by that looks exactly like Manhattan. Louis (Rick Moranis), Janine (Annie Potts) and Dana (Sigourney Weaver) all have cameos, while Venkman only appears near the end of the film.
It's a sad state of affairs when Aykroyd can get a "Blues Brothers 2000" made - now that, I would feed to Toranga's Gators - and not a second sequel to one of the most profitable films of the 80's.
The fans want it. Columbia. You listening?
January 10, 2005:
Time magazine (Arts section)
The Many Faces of Bill
By Josh Tyrangiel
Excerpt from a much longer article:
Other friends of Murray's speak in similar tones, like jilted lovers angling for the chance to be jilted again. "Getting him to read the script for the [as yet unmade] second sequel to Ghostbusters-I don't think he's ever read it, actually," says Dan Aykroyd, one of Murray's fellow Ghostbusters and oldest friends. "He makes business so difficult that I just relate to him as a friend now. I have to."
August 1, 2005:
Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (also distributed to numerous websites)
'Ghostbusters' DVDs Conjure Up Spirited Memories For Ramis
by Tim Lammers
Answering Another Call?
Considering the monstrous success of the first two "Ghostbusters" films, it shouldn't come as too big a surprise that a third film for the series was considered.
But, as the years have gone by, several cast and crewmembers careers have soared even higher into the stratosphere.
But if the stars align and the likes of Ramis, Aykroyd, Murray, Weaver and Reitman find the time to get together again (Ramis alone has two films on his director's plate -- the action comedy thriller "Ice Harvest" with Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack, and an untitled project with Owen Wilson) could we see them all taking another plunge?
"Dan had a great idea for a third one and spec'd out a script," Ramis told me. "The idea was wonderful. It saw the Ghostbusters going to hell. I thought, 'That's perfect.' We actually talked about it, wrote a story for it and did another draft, but we could not make the deal. Everyone had gotten so big that to get Ivan, Bill, Dan and I all packaged together, there wasn't enough in it for the studio.
"Plus I'm not so sure Bill was wildly enthusiastic about putting the suit on again," Ramis mused. "Maybe he would be in it if he could play a ghost."
November 2005:
Ramis On 'Ice' (Uncut)
The Comic Mind Behind Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and Analyze This Fires Off A Laugh Noir
by M.E. Russell
from In Focus magazine, November 2005
GHOSTBUSTERS 3: GHOSTBUSTERS GO TO HELL
My editor is begging me to ask you three questions about "Ghostbusters 3."
The non-existent film?
Yes. He would like to know about the non-existent film. My understanding is that it would have sent Peter, Ray and Egon to Hell.
Yes. "Ghostbusters go to Hell" was Danny Aykroyd's concept for it.
What was your favorite scene from that script that we'll likely never see?
Well, we never really got down to an actual scenario. We had a story. Part of the fun of "Ghostbusters" was developing some kind of lamebrained scientific explanation for what was going on, and I take credit for this:
What Danny had originally conceived was sending us to a special-effects Hell -- a netherworld full of phenomenal visual environments and boiling pits and all that stuff.
He does tend to think big when he's writing these, doesn't he?
Oh, he's amazing. [laughs] But my thought was that what works so well about the first two is the mundane-ness of it all. So my notion was that Hell exists simultaneously, and in the same place as our consensus reality. But it's like a film shutter -- it's the darkness between the 24 frames. When we're blinking on, they're off -- so we blink alternately with this other reality, which is Hell.
So all the Ghostbusters would need to do [to go to Hell] is take themselves "out of phase" one beat. And we create a device to do it, and it's in a warehouse in Brooklyn. And when we step out of the chamber, it looks just like New York -- but it's Hell. Everything's gridlocked -- no cars are moving, no vehicles are moving, and all the drivers are swearing at each other in different foreign languages. No two people speak the same language. It's all the worst things about modern urban life, just magnified.
And Heaven was across the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey -- which was irony. The Ghostbusters had to make this journey from lower Manhattan to the George Washington Bridge.
It sort of makes me sad that I'm not gonna see that.
Yeah. There was a good structure -- because some of us were in Hell, while some of us were in the real world, tracking our journey through Hell. We had new Ghostbusters and old Ghostbusters.
I've read that you had a next-gen cast in mind. If you were casting those roles today, who would play the younger Ghostbusters?
Well, we had Chris Farley as one of them, Ben Stiller as one of them. It was a while ago.
Full Article: Web-Only Uncut Version, Print Version
November 7, 2005:
Proton Charging: GB3 rumours NOT true.
On the basis of Harold Ramis' few comments in his recent In Focus interview (see above), Hollywood.com has decided that GB3 is back in the running. This in turn was picked up by a lot of other sites (I'm looking at you blogosphere), which means that everyone will begin to think it's true. However, based on Harold's comments, GB3 is still stuck going nowhere.
You only have to read the In Focus comments to see that Ramis was talking past tense about the script and the plans he and Aykroyd had a few years ago - he wasn't talking about now.
"I've read that you had a next-gen cast in mind. If you were casting those roles today, who would play the younger Ghostbusters?Well, we had Chris Farley as one of them, Ben Stiller as one of them.... It was a while ago."
I'd like a new movie as much as you, but let's not get carried away. This isn't a new script and while the idea of Stiller is unique, it's still old news about a proposed idea, not current fact.
[UPDATE] I've gotten two reports that the rumour-as-fact has now spread to at least one TV entertainment program and in the UK, a radio station has apparently announced that Charlotte Church will play the lead female role.
I'd like to remind people that these days, TV entertainment / radio stations just read off the internet. Plus, it's been established for awhile that Church was a Ghostbusters fan as a kid. It's an interesting mutation strain to the story, but it doesn't change anything.
[UPDATE] MSN has adopted the story, apparently through CP (Canadian Press.) When a supposed serious news portal adopts it as true, you know it's going to live for a long time. Interesting to note that Ramis is quoted as saying he's a "huge fan" of Stiller. Ramis says no such thing in the original interview. Yahoo News is also awash in GB3 stories - the problem here is that as a portal, Yahoo News has the vaneer of respectable, even reporting AP/CP/etc news, but combining it with their search engine, which spits back "news" from most middling sources. Here's another bit of "quoting";
MSN report, attributed to Ramis - "When the Ghostbusters step out of this portal, it looks just like New York but it's hell."
Actual Ramis quote - "And when we step out of the chamber, it looks just like New York - but it's Hell."
So, yes, the facts are the same, I just always assumed quotes were, you know, accurate.
[UPDATE]There's an interview from about a week and a half ago - Ramis was in Austin for the film festival. The interview is short and lightly touches on Ghostbusters, but not a third movie. Later, Stiller is mentioned as part of the new generation of comedy filmmakers (again, Ramis never says he loves him.) And later still, Ramis mentions he's developing a property for Owen Wilson. I predict the Stiller/GB3 news will roll in Wilson soon enough (especially as the two have starred together before.) You heard it here first - but don't believe the hype.
[UPDATE] Who the Hell (pun intended) is WENN? I initially blamed Hollywood.com for this mess, but Yahoo News UK has picked up the story, and it's attributed to WENN as well. I looked it up (you know, using the Internet to fact-check) and it's the World Entertainment News Network. So, now I know who to blame - one subscription news service, who bent the news to make it tastier, and we have a lie.
You know, I'm not that old, but I do remember a time when the new services at least TRIED to keep the wires clean (if only so they wouldn't have to clean up the mess later.)
Well, I'm looking at you WENN. You got it wrong. Can you set it right?
November 17, 2005:
Cool News: Quint chats with Harold Ramis about ICE HARVEST, GHOSTBUSTERS and much more!!!
Published on Thursday, November 17th, 2005 at 01:54:33 AM CST
QUINT: I know you're probably sick of it, but the AICN readers would kill me if I didn't bring up GHOSTBUSTERS 3. I know a few years ago it was getting hot and then just seemed to disappear. What's going on with it?
HAROLD RAMIS: Yeah, Danny and I actually played around for a while... Aykroyd had a great concept. He called me and said, "I got it. I got GHOSTBUSTERS 3." I said, "What is it?" He said, "Ghostbusters go to Hell! This is it!" (laughs)
QUINT: So is there a chance that it'll still happen?
HAROLD RAMIS: Well, the script was viable. Dan is the most imaginative person. He went off on a tangent 90% of the movie is a special effect set entirely in Hell, you know. I had a whole different take on it.
Really, it was the business that stopped it. I never thought that the public wanted to see the three of us kind of stuffed into our jumpsuits again. I thought we would introduce three new Ghostbusters, but maybe we'd be around as Senior Ghostbusters, running the company or something, but the real adventure would be... And this was so long ago, we were thinking Chris Rock, Chris Farley and Ben Stiller taking over. That would have worked
And we had the script all worked out. Danny and I had the story and Murray got really... Murray's so cantankerous, you know. Dan called him and said, "Would you be in the movie?" And he said, "I'll be in the movie... but only as a ghost."
QUINT: That would have been awesome!
HAROLD RAMIS: (laughs) It would have been interesting. So, we even created a story around that. In the end, it sounds greedy, but the deal couldn't be made. We as an entity... Me... well, I'm low man on that totem pole deal-wise, but Ivan, Bill, Danny and me couldn't make a deal with the studio. There wasn't enough left for the studio.
And I can't say my heart was really in it, you know... making the third one.
February 15, 2006:
Interview with Harold Ramis
by: Will Harris
Interview date: 02/15/2006
Posted: 02/24/2006 on Bullz-Eye.com
Bullz-Eye: Okay, I've got two words for you: "Ghostbusters 3."
Harold Ramis: (Laughs)
BE: Never gonna happen...?
HR: Not with us! Danny (Aykroyd) and I tried. Danny really wanted to get it going, and he had a good idea.
BE: The Ghostbusters going to Hell...?
HR: Yeah, it was a real good idea...but he wrote a script that was just way out there. It was just...very bizarre. I helped him re-frame it. I said, "Uh, I really think it should go like this." So we actually had a very good story for it. Danny talked to Bill Murray a little bit, but Bill had no real enthusiasm for it. The studio would've been happy to go ahead. My theory was that we'd get some new Ghostbusters. Young guys. Young, popular guys. And then maybe we'd turn up as the executives of Ghostbusters, Inc. or something, with us supervising them, and we'd just put in cameo appearances. But it turned out to be a deal that couldn't be made. I'm quite convinced that we could've written a really funny and interesting script that would've been very faithful to the "Ghostbusters" spirit, but it was a package that couldn't be made, somehow. It added up to more than 100% with the profits. And not that we're so mercenary, but the studio just couldn't foot the bill for it.
May 16, 2006:
Proton Charging: The Article That Just Won't Die
E.Y. sent in a link to IGN, that references that awful WENN news item from last year. Stax has read the GB3 script, so his article is a lot more level headed, but he still picked up on the Ben Stiller item, which is so old as not to be credible any more.
UPDATE - Oh good, it's starting all over.
In the wake of IGN's post regarding GB3, Contactmusic.com has boiled the entire article down to a couple of dozen words, which comes out as "Aykroyd pens GB3 script, Bill Murray to be replaced by Ben Stiller." This is turn get's picked up by a dozen blogs, who are now reporting that Ben Stiller is replacing Bill Murray, which isn't what the original article said at all.
I hate the internet.
UPDATE - I'd like to initiate Cinescape and the Internet Movie Database into the Too Lazy To Research club. Well done lads. Thanks for helping sort things out.
May 31, 2006:
Dan Aykroyd on CTV's eTalk Daily
Dan Aykroyd was briefly on CTV today, as eTalk Daily visited him on a photoshoot at his new Ontario vineyard. Aykroyd confirmed that he's shifting his focus away from acting into business ventures, that GB3 is not going to be made, and that all those reports and quotes about GB3, attributed to Harold Ramis, are false.
Zain Meghji: With memorable flicks like The Blues Brothers and Coneheads under his belt, could Dan be done with show business?Dan Aykroyd: It's like a hockey player or football player. At some point you just go, you know, 'it's time to hang it up'.
Zain Meghji: Which puts to rest the rumors about the third installment of Ghostbusters.
Dan Aykroyd: It's not gonna happen. I'm telling you right now, and I'll give you the honest scoop. These are all false quotes. Harold never said any of that stuff. We've all gotta move on.
Video - Aykroyd segment:
* Flash (YouTube) - Streaming / Download (GB3 is mentioned from 1:00-1:21)
Video - Whole show (Windows Media) (Aykroyd segment 5:55-8:06, GB3 7:06-7:28):
* Streaming
* Download High Quality (29.5 Mb, 10:01, 416x312, Stereo/Left-Primarily)
* Download Low Quality (16.6 Mb, 10:01, 304x228, Mono)
(downloading requires a special program)
July 17, 2006:
Reitman revives hope of Ghostbusters 3
Jul. 17, 2006 at 5:06PM
by United Press International (via The Washington Times)
Director Ivan Reitman says a second sequel to his 1984 paranormal comedy, "Ghostbusters," could be on the way once he neutralizes some pesky legal issues.
"(Dan Aykroyd) has written a draft of something, but I think there are some sort of technical problems that have basically frozen the rights. We're trying to do something about it now, but who knows?" Reitman told UPI, while promoting his romantic comedy, "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," due in theaters Friday.
Asked if filming this new supernatural comedy, which is also set in New York City, reminded him of the days when he worked on the 1984 film and its 1989 follow-up, Reitman said: "What makes me nostalgic for 'Ghostbusters' is to work with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis; that was the joy of working on 'Ghostbusters' and 'Ghostbusters II.'
"They've become old friends," he said. "That's what you miss. It's not staging a marshmallow man walking down Columbus Circle; that's a pain in the ass. It's much better getting (the actors) all in a room and doing something funny."
July 22, 2006:
Comic-Con 2006: Ghostbusters 3 Talk
Ernie Hudson is eager to get started on a third installment.
by Chris Carle (IGN)
Ever since Ghostbusters 2 was released nearly twenty years ago, San Diego's Comic-Con has been a breeding ground for rumor of a possible sequel. [..] At the Snoop Dogg Hood of Horror panel, Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson added fuel to the rumor fire, when he responded to the "will there be a sequel?" question.
Hudson said: "I've been hearing about Ghostbusters 3 for 20 years... Harold would love to [do it] and Dan would... Bill is the hold-out."
July 25, 2006:
Ivan Reitman: Ghostbusters Unlikely
Written by Robert Sanchez (IESB)
Ernie Hudson this weekend over at Comic-Con seemed a bit hopeful about a new Ghostbusters film, but is something in the works?
No, not at all, at least according to the Producer and Director of the films, Ivan Reitman.
We met with the filmmaker during the Junket for My Super-Ex Girlfriend in New York and we had to ask about two possible sequels.
The first up Old School 2, which he was able to confirm, is in the works. The second, the beloved Ghostbusters, "stale" is what he called the franchise and seemed pretty sure there is nothing in the works.
* Watch The Interview (Windows Media, 2:00, 5.2 Mb) (GB3 mentioned from 1:18-1:26)
February 1, 2007:
Dan Aykroyd on CISN Country 103.9
Mike McGuire at CISN Country 103.9 in Edmonton got to interview Dan Aykroyd today, who talked about GB3 as being in the talking stage, and the plan is for it to be CGI. The transcript below was done by Steven Hough.
One thing I have to ask, and I'm gonna break these out one by one, I know you talked about it on TV, but the Internet still buzzes about it all the time, I grew up with Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz.Uh-huh, yes yes.
I think you know what the question is going to be and unfortunately I think I know the answer too, but everyone is dying to know: Ghostbusters III-we've heard tons of rumors about it, does this thing exist?
Well, I wrote a script called Hellbent, uh, Ghostbusters go to Hell, basically its-the premise is that its Manhellton-that there's Manhattan and Mannhelton. And if you can basically, build a phase-an interdimensional phase system, so that you can go from one dimension to another, we've succeeded in doing that, and we go to the Hell side of Manhattan. Which, Downtown, Foley Square its all where the cops are, its they're all blue minotaurs. Uh the uh-Central Park is this huge deep mine with green demons there, surrounded by, you know, black onyx 1000 foot high apartment buildings with uh classic red devils, you know, very wealthy, and we go and visit like a Donald Trump like character who's Mr. Sifler, you know, Luke Sifler, LukeSifler, Luk-so its it and we meet the devil in it. Now it won't happen as a live action cuz Billy will not come onto the live stage anymore for it, but he will voice his part, and we're looking to do it as a CGI animated project.
Really?
Yeah.
So Ghostbusters III...
It lives! It lives today!
Wow.
Last year, last year it didn't-this year it lives.
That is big news.
Yeah, that'd be good, because, you know, with that, with CGI animation and the way these uh, these cartoons are done, we can just do everything that I ever wrote in that script for much less money.
That is great news.
Audio Interview (Part 2):
* Inline On Blog Page
* Indirect Streaming
* Direct Streaming/Download (1:15, 195 Kb) (downloading requires a special program)
February 19, 2008:
Cinematical: Sigourney Weaver Says 'Ghostbusters III' Won't Happen
by Ryan Stewart
Posted Feb 19th 2008 9:32PM
In a forthcoming interview with Premiere conducted by yours truly, Sigourney Weaver talks at length about all her various franchises, and even has a few words to say about the recently resurrected hoopla over a possible Ghostbusters III. When I pointed out that the film industry's renewed focus on next-gen 3D imagery and CG-rendered worlds means that perhaps a third Ghostbusters adventure is still feasible, Weaver looked at me a bit like I had just given her a toothache. She then took a big breath and said "Well, I just saw Ivan Reitman at this dinner, this lunch for his son, and, ummm, there's no way." Perhaps responding to the look of sadness on my face, she quickly added "You could 3D Ghostbusters. You could pay for that. I think they're fantastic movies for that time, and I think, if anything, Be Kind, Rewind is kind of a Ghostbusters for this time." Since I haven't seen Be Kind, Rewind, I have no clue what that last part is supposed to mean. Does Slimer make an appearance in Be Kind, Rewind or something?
It's not like any of this is a great surprise -- to my knowledge, Weaver has never expressed any enthusiasm for returning to the franchise and rumor has it she declined to participate in the upcoming video game that will feature voices from the main Ghostbusters and will cannibalize Dan Aykroyd's never-in-development Ghostbusters III: Ghostbusters Go to Hell script. Most of the recent GIII talk stems from Ernie Hudson, who was quoted as saying that he hoped the success of that particular game would renew interest in creating a third film, and that Ramis and Aykroyd still wanted a third film, too. That would be fine with me as long as it starts with a fresh concept, as opposed to the whole 'Manhellton' crap. I've heard Aykroyd describe his 'hell' script at length -- to a radio DJ on a country music station, no less -- and, frankly, it's the opposite of impressive. It sounds like a recipe for a studio-killing flop with a $300 million budget. But with Murray and Weaver and (apparently) Ivan Reitman not even down for a third go-round, don't hold your breath. To read the interview, which mostly centers on Avatar, check out Premiere.com on Thursday.
February 21, 2008:
Premiere: Sigourney Weaver Looks to the Future
The actress talks with Premiere about her new thriller 'Vantage Point,' exclusive news about her indie projects, and why her new movie with James Cameron will 'blow the mind of this industry.'
By Ryan Stewart
Speaking of 3D and these next-gen special effects, it seems like Ghostbusters III could be a natural beneficiary of that. It doesn't have to be a dead project.
Well, I just saw Ivan Reitman at this dinner, this lunch for his son, and ... there's no way. You could 3D Ghostbusters. You could pay for that. I think they're fantastic movies for that time, and I think, if anything, Be Kind Rewind is kind of a Ghostbusters for this time. You know, I wish I did, but I don't have a master plan. I'm kind of just canoeing along. And this will look good to me and that will look good to me and a lot of it is based on what I'm offered. So even if I wanted to satisfy the fanbase and say "I think they need to see me in another science fiction," you know ... I've turned down a lot of science fiction because the parts haven't been that compelling. You know, they just want "me" in a science-fiction movie. So unless it really grabs me, regardless of the genre, I don't go for it. So when I am sent something that's fantastic and genre and back in the world of science fiction ... I mean, I really love it in that world. I love doing the impossible. I love the dream of science fiction. I think it's fantastic, I really do. My father was always talking to me about outer-space, he was a Navy guy. So growing up with them putting a man on the moon and everything, I'm fascinated by space. But I never think about the fanbase. I don't even know that I have a real fanbase.
September 3, 2008:
E! Online: Dan Aykroyd Does the Tequila Rap
by Craig Macrae
Wed., Sep. 3, 2008 5:32 PM PDT
Dan Aykroyd was in Toronto this past week to promote his award winning wines and Patron tequila. [...] Of course we couldn't let Dan get away without asking about the rumors surrounding the Ghostbusters movie. With all these 80's movies being remade it just seems like a movie that would be on the top of the list. Especially from a certain Apatow crew that is on fire right now.
[VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION (0:15)]
Interviewer: You ever hear...you hear a rumor about that?
Dan: Well, you know. Two sharp young writers in Hollywood are purported to be writing the sequel...the third movie now. If I could interest Seth [Rogan] and Judd [Apatow] to be part of it, that would be a dream. Absolute dream.
September 4, 2008:
Variety: Columbia calls up new 'Ghostbusters'
Eisenberg, Stupnitsky to write reunion film
By Michael Fleming
Posted: Thurs., Sep. 4, 2008, 5:15pm PT
Columbia Pictures is getting serious about scaring up a new installment of its blockbuster "Ghostbusters" franchise.
The studio has set "The Office" co-exec producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky to write a script for a film designed to bring back together the original cast of Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.
Studio would not comment on the development and has been mum on recent rumors that there was interest in making another installment of the franchise.
The scribes just wrote "Year One," a comedy that was directed by Ramis. Ramis with Aykroyd wrote the first two installments of the films. Ivan Reitman directed both the 1984 original and the sequel that was released in 1989. The close proximity between the writers and original Ghostbuster Ramis is evidence that the ghost chasers have sparked to the idea of returning.
"Ghostbusters" was Columbia's highest grossing film ever, until it was beaten by "Men in Black" and then "Spider-Man." An attempt to make a third installment of the franchise was stymied in the dealmaking stage. Sources said so much gross was pledged to the participants that it was next to impossible for the studio to make any money on a third installment.
No deals will be made with the original cast until the script is ready, but the gross percentage will certainly be an issue. Sony has a standing policy not to allow more than 25% of first dollar gross out the door.
The scribes, who are Emmy-nominated for their work on "The Office," just set up another picture at Columbia, selling their spec script "Bad Teacher" to the studio for Jimmy Miller to produce.
September 26, 2008:
Ain't It Cool News: Bill Murray commented on GHOSTBUSTERS 3 tonight at Fantastic Fest!
Published on Friday, September 26, 2008 - 4:32am
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Tonight's (September 25, 2008) closing night film at Fantastic Fest was CITY OF EMBER with director Gil Kenan in attendance and a surprise appearance by Bill Murray. I dug the movie (more on that later), but the reason you're reading this is due to a question Kraken asked during the Q&A.
I'm sure at some point the video of this will come out, but the non-line for line version of the question was how would Murray feel about strapping on the proton pack and kicking some ghost ass again?
I was very curious to hear Murray's answer. He's not as available to the press or public as Dan Aykroyd or Harold Ramis and he also seemed to be the least enthusiastic about a Ghostbusters sequel...
But tonight he said that he knew "some writers from THE OFFICE" were taking a stab at the script right now (which we already knew) and that he thinks that's a good start. He paused for a few seconds then said that he thinks enough time has passed and that "the wounds from GHOSTBUSTERS 2 are healed" and that he would definitely be into doing another GHOSTBUSTERS movie, stating that the first 40 minutes of the original film is some of the best stuff he's been associated with and the whole shoot was an amazing amount of fun.
He also went on to say that his enthusiasm for Ghostbusters was heightened after recording the voice of Peter Venkman for the video game over the summer. In fact, he said he found himself walking down the street singing the Ghostbusters theme song and then thought people walking around him were going to start yelling at him to "get over yourself, Bill," so he stopped... But the enthusiasm was there.
VIDEO:
FULL VIDEO (7:02, GB part runs from 5:00-6:52)
* Flash (YouTube) - Streaming / Download
GB3 SEGMENT ONLY (2:04)
* Flash (YouTube) - Streaming / Download
TRANSCRIPT:
Question: I heard about this a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to know how Bill felt about the possibility of strapping on another proton pack and kicking some ghost ass.
Bill's Answer: Well, I think the wounds from Ghostbusters II have healed. [audience laughs] And, supposedly they've hired two guys from The Office to write a script. So, that could work. I think that's a good idea to get a fresh look at it. I always liked the characters; the characters are funny. And we did have a lot of fun making the movie. The first one was really a lot of fun to make. I think the first 45 minutes of Ghostbusters, or 40 minutes, are about as funny as the movie gets. We didn't have a lot of special effects then; it was just a couple. It was just the funny characters in that world, and I liked that movie because of that. I think the first movie had something like 60 plate shots, or something like that. The second one had hundreds. The specialist guys got their hands on the script early and it was just gone. It went away. The script went away. It was harder to wrangle because it was tied all around the effects, without the story coming first or the characters moving through it. You know, they're hard movies to write, and Dan really caught it with that first one; he really caught it the way it was set up. Well, the character's are fun to do. We did the video game this Summer and it was fun to do it again. I found myself walking down Fifth avenue singing the song. People were like, 'God, that guy's really full of himself.'
October 9, 2008:
MTV: Bill Murray Longs For A More Heated Presidential Race ... And A Girl Ghostbuster
By Shawn Adler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Oct 9 2008 at 8:04 AM EDT
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT (DIFFERS SLIGHTLY FROM PRINTED INTERVIEW)
MTV: As any Bill Murray fan worth their salt, I'm a big "Ghostbusters" fan. So the guys from "The Office," I guess, are writing a new one. Have you talked to them directly about this?
Murray: I don't even know who these guys are, but I know there's two guys from "The Office" that are writing a "Ghostbusters" script.
MTV: You don't know what their take is or anything like that?
Murray: No, I have no idea. But it's great, because I think a fresh look at it will be fine. I mean, I hope they go back to the original version. The first "Ghostbusters" was such a funny movie, and the first 45 minutes of it or so - there's only maybe one or two special effects. It's just these guys being funny, and the characters were really funny, and the situations were funny. I mean, Danny had a really fantastic idea, and, you know, he and Harold [Raimis], they wrote some funny scenes. They left room for improvisation, and we made a funny movie.
MTV: Do you like the idea of potentially passing on to a new crop of Ghostbusters? There's been talk like that, could be the kind of angle for a film like this.
Murray: Well, I think it'd be funny to have a girl Ghostbuster. We don't have a girl ghostbuster. I mean, they say like, "What if you passed it to Chris Rock?" And I'm like, "Well, I dunno. Is Chris Rock gonna save us?" [interviewer laughs] You know, I guess. He's funny. But, I don't know. They were talking about it for a long time...about someone.
MTV: You want Dana Barrett to have a proton pack - is that what you're saying?
Murray: No, no, no, no, no. I just think there's some funny girls I'd love to see be ghostbusters. And I think that Ghostbusters was so big, that there were girls that got involved in it and got dressed up as it for Halloween and so forth.
December 4, 2008:
MTV: Will Signourney Weaver Appear In The 'Ghostbusters' Sequel? She's Got Ideas
Published by Josh Horowitz on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 6:33 pm.
Should we not want another "Ghostbusters" film? I'm conflicted, are you? Well, how you and I feel is becoming an increasingly moot question because the development of the sequel has certainly gathered steam in the last few months. First it was announced that a pair of "Office" writers were scripting the third adventure. Then Bill Murray spoke with us and others about how intrigued he was about coming back to the franchise at long last. Hell, Murray even had an idea...adding a female Ghostbuster to the fray.
This afternoon I got chance to chat with Dana Barrett herself and yes, Ms. Sigourney Weaver is well aware of the chatter. "I've heard about it," she said, adding "I'm supposed to get in touch with Bill [Murray] next week."
Weaver called Murray's potential involvement "great" and said she's wondering if he thinks Dana ended up with Venkman. "Does he think we got married or something?" she laughed. Weaver wasn't sure if there was a place for her in the story but she did think someone deserves a spot. "I would hope that my little Oscar would be one of the Ghostbusters even if I'm not in it!"
February 20, 2009:
Boston Globe: Aykroyd hopes for GB3 production by Fall
As reported by Proton Charging
In Boston to promote a new House of Blues, Dan Aykroyd answered some online questions for the Boston Globe...
[Comment From Tom] Dan, I'm extremely excited for the HOB to be back in its birth-city!! I will be attending many shows. On a side note, and I'm sure you get these questions a lot, so I apologize in advance...Ghostbusters 3? I've heard that the writers of the Office are currently penning a script? How is this coming along, and should we look forward to this movie seeing the light of day? Thanks Dan!
Dan Aykroyd: Script is commenced early summer. Hope to be in production by late fall 2009
February 24, 2009:
WBCN 104.1FM: Aykroyd Continues GB3 Production Push
(mirror copy at Proton Charging)
Following on the heels of last week's online chat assertion that a third Ghostbusters script will be done by June, and with luck production to follow, Dan continues to talk up a third Ghostbusters by 2010. This time he sat down with Boston's Toucher and Rich of WBCN 104.1FM, and verified that Bill Murray is in, and the Next Generation plotline is still the intent. (Text transcription below done by me, Paul Rudoff)
Interviewer: Now, Dan Aykroyd, one of the things that you've done that has made people very happy are the Ghostbusters films, and everyone is talking about the possibility of a third Ghostbusters film. Is this something that is a reality?
Dan: Well, right now I've got the two writers that have been engaged by Sony to put together the script. They work on The Office and they just did this fantastic comedy that's gonna go out from Harold Ramis called "Year One". It's basically the Book of Genesis adapted into a movie.
Interviewer: Jack Black. We saw the commercial during the Super Bowl.
Dan: Yeah, it's really funny. It's hilarious. In the movie its Jack Black and his partner and - who do they partner up with? Who's their best buddy in the movie? Caine! [both laugh] It's great! So these guys are writing that, and they're gonna write the Ghostbusters. Hopefully they'll have a draft by June, which will enable us to maybe shoot by the late Fall.
Interviewer: There's a rumor that it won't be the original cast playing the Ghostbusters, but a young - like Seth Rogan...
Dan: No, we're all in it, we're all in it.
Interviewer: Oh, you are? So Bill Murray has agreed?
Dan: Yes, he has, but we are handing the torch to the next generation. In other words, we're training the cadets, as it were.
Interviewer: Could you see the Ghostbusters franchise moving on without you guys in it? Would that be something you'd...
Dan: I hope so. I hope so. Sure. I hope after this one they'll be enough strength with the younger players to take it to the next generation. Sure, why not?
March 3, 2009:
Los Angeles Times: Judd Apatow and 'Ghostbusters 3': Fat chance
by Patrick Goldstein from his "The Big Picture" column
Anyone can write anything on the Internet, so I guess I wasn't surprised to discover that the amazing array of stories all reporting, speculating and buzzing about Judd Apatow stepping up to produce "Ghostbusters 3" turn out to be, ahem, fanciful, intriguing and entertaining -- but not true. All it took was a couple of calls to the top brass at Sony to learn that Apatow, despite his many talents and deep roots at the studio, where he has made several comedy hits, has nothing to do with the movie.
"It's not true," says Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures. "We have some great new writers working on a new script, but Judd isn't involved. Judging from the frenzy on the Internet, there still seems to be plenty of interest in the idea of doing another film, so we're certainly taking that as a good sign."
The first two "Ghostbusters" films, directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, were signature 1980s action comedies and huge box-office hits. Over the years, Sony has regularly tried to interest the foursome in revisiting the franchise, with limited success. However, timing is everything. The studio recently hired the writing team of Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (best known for their work on "The Office") to tackle a new script. As it turns out, most of the original films' creative team are involved as informal consultants on the new project, which would have the original Ghostbusters passing the torch to a new generation.
So why all those wacky Internet posts about Judd Apatow? Some of it is probably just wishful thinking -- after all, Apatow's comic versatility makes him today's equivalent of Reitman, who was the reigning comedy producer-director of his era. But it's also likely that the web gumshoes were confused by the fact that Apatow is producing another Stupnitsky and Eisenberg-penned project, "The Year One," a Harold Ramis-directed adventure comedy that Sony is releasing in June. This somehow led to all sorts of dreamy speculation that the new "'Busters" project would be populated with actors from the Apatow stock company, which isn't a bad idea, but is total fiction at this stage.
For now, the studio is just hoping the writers can figure out a clever way to update the "Ghostbusters" saga. At least the Internet hubbub seems to offer plausible evidence that the franchise's fan base is alive and well and eager for a new film. If there were any doubt, just check out the assortment of fan-created trailers for a new sequel on YouTube.
April 10, 2009:
Chud: Aykroyd Promises Sigourney Weaver For Ghostbusters 3
By Russ Fischer
As Dan Aykroyd explains it, there is as yet no script for Ghostbusters 3. There are writers, yes, and some (no doubt) very good intentions. Maybe even some good ideas. But no script. So anything you read, from the mentoring role of the original crew to the reappearance of Rick Moranis, is informed speculation at best.
But if you're going to run with informed speculation, Aykroyd is one of the better-placed sources.
While talking to me and a few other reporters about the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game (which Aykroyd still says he considers the third movie, but also that it is now a lead-in to the third movie...confusing!) the man who was Ray Stantz said quite a bit about the third film...or he seemed to be saying something about it.
The lead-in was a question about Sigourney Weaver declining to participate in the game, and Alyssa Milano's sorta-replacement character.
"...and when we do the Ghostbusters 3 movie, hopefully, Sigourney will be in, I know. We'll make that happen." That 'hopefully' was in reference to making the movie, I believe, not to Weaver's role in it. He followed up with, "but there'll be a whole new generation that has to be trained. And that whole new generation will be led by an individual that you'll all love when you hear who it is, but I'm not going to tell you now. There will be lots of cadets, boys and girls, who'll be learning how to use the cyclotron, the accelerators, and the new stuff. The nuon splitter, the inter-planary interceptor, all these great tools they're going to have to flip from dimension to dimension. Anyway. Game number two, maybe."
I didn't get a chance to ask follow-up questions, so I'm not sure where the line between movie and game(s) really is. (I'm also not certain about the spelling of those last two devices mentioned.)
Does this mean that the third movie will have a whole bunch of young Ghostbusters? And will they hop between dimensions? And Sigourney Weaver will definitely be a part of it? Or is half of that stuff in a theoretical video game? He did say that screenwriters Eisenberg and Stupnitsky had been influenced by events in this upcoming game, and that some game elements are in their current story outline, for whatever that's worth. The easy assumption is that the individual leading the new crew is Oscar, the son of Weaver's character Dana Barrett, but we were strictly limited on questions and I was unable to bug Aykroyd about it.
Aykroyd also mentioned having a pair of science fiction scripts that he figures won't get made as movies. But the new structure of games leading to movies gives him hope. The scripts "would make great games, and it would be impossible to make them as movies. But maybe, if the games are good enough, they can become movies."
You might doubt some of Aykroyd's sanity after all this, but know one thing: he still understands the second Ghostbusters movie is mostly crap, based on the following: "I respect Sigourney's view towards protecting the quality of the first movie, and the good things that were in the second movie." So there's that.
May 19 2009:
Los Angeles Times: Dan Aykroyd says 'Ghostbusters 3' may start filming in winter
by Geoff Boucher
May 19 2009, 03:57 PM PT
I just visited with Dan Aykroyd over at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip for an interview for an upcoming feature in the Los Angeles Times (you'll be able to find it here on the Hero Complex as well). We talked about a wide range of topics, but I didn't want to wait on this update about the third "Ghostbusters" film, which is moving forward after so many years.
Aykroyd said Sigourney Weaver is on board now, as are the original squad of ectoplasmic specialists -- Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. Murray's presence was the pivot point in making a third film happen. He holds a one-fifth controlling interest in the property rights and has been seen as the most reluctant to return to the paranormal comedy. Aykroyd said that is true but that it's more nuanced than the public portrayal of the situation.
"I don't put not making the third movie on Billy. We can't do that. I've been very busy. Harold's been busy, Ivan's been busy. And a third script really didn't coalesce properly. And Billy, you can't blame an artist for not wanting to do the same thing again. He did two of them, for God's sake. Although I'm the biggest cheerleader as the originator of the concept but I've never begrudged Billy not doing a third movie. I never said he held it up or that he refused. Hey, listen, he's an artist. You can't force somebody into it. I'm sorry he never read my third draft because I thought it was pretty good but, look, now we're at a point that there's a story that he can accept and that's going to work, and I think we're going to be in production fairly soon. We could be in production by winter."
The script is by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, the writing team behind the upcoming Jack Black/Michael Cera movie "Year One" (directed by Ramis), and Aykroyd is enthused about its premise of a new generation of Ghostbusters taking over the duties of the aging team. Aykroyd said he wishes Ivan Reitman would return to direct the third film in the series but that he's "too busy as a mega-producer" to take it on; his second choice is Ramis, who, of course, co-wrote the first two "Ghostbusters" films with Aykroyd and has numerous directing credits, most notably "Groundhog Day" and "Analyze This." "He has a lot of things going on, but it would be wonderful to see him do it."
Aykroyd says he believes the movie will move forward but that he has also learned that "at any second everything could blow up." The details of story are still in play, but Aykroyd said he's hoping for a five-member "new generation" team with several female members. "I'd like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie. Let's revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family but let's pass it on to a new generation."
Who does Aykroyd think would be good in the jumpsuits? Aykroyd mentioned two names, Alyssa Milano (who is a voice in the upcoming "Ghostbusters" video game) and Eliza Dushku. "I think they're amazing," he said. "And I'm excited about the whole idea of getting this done."
May 19, 2009:
Entertainment Weekly: 'Ghostbusters III' to start shooting next winter?
by Joshua Rich
May 19, 2009, 07:47 PM
Dan Aykroyd says that the long-awaited Ghostbusters III may start shooting this winter, with all the original cast members returning, including Sigourney Weaver. But a spokesperson for Sony, which will distribute the film, politely says that Aykroyd may have jumped the gun a little. "We couldn't be more excited about the way the new Ghostbusters film is coming together, but at this point we are focused on a great screenplay," the spokesperson tells EW. "I can't comment on specific casting choices because we don't have a finished script. We love Dan's enthusiasm and his support, and while we are making progress, we are still just in development on this project." In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Aykroyd essentially confirmed what EW reported from the ShoWest convention in April -- that the franchise film is expected to feature a "new generation" of ghostbusters. The Office scribes Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg are writing the screenplay. (Additional reporting by Nicole Sperling)
May 23, 2009:
The Guardian UK: Slime flies
It's 25 years since the Ghostbusters team busted their way on to the big screen. But can a videogame revive the movie for a new generation? 'Yes!' the film's creator Dan Aykroyd tells Dan Martin
by Dan Martin
[...]
And now for the supernatural bit: after coming together for the game, all the players have stated their intentions to go back, and a script is being written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, writers on the US Office. According to reports the original cast will act as mentors, handing the company over to a new generation, likely to be from the Seth Rogen and Steve Carell class of actors who are filling up just the same space in Hollywood as Aykroyd and Murray once did. "There'll be a whole new generation that has to be trained and a leader that you'll all love when you meet her," says Aykroyd. "There'll be lots of cadets, boys and girls who'll be learning how to use the neuron splitter and the inter-planet interceptor - new tools to enable them to slip from dimension to dimension."
That is, of course, if they decide that movies are even the way to go any more. "I have what I think are two great cool science fiction stories myself right now and I think I'm gonna skip the movies altogether and find some gamers, maybe go with these guys again. I'll just give them the scripts and say, 'pretend this movie got made'."
But with sequels to the game already being thought about aloud, Ghostbusters' future looks assured - in whatever dimension.
May 31, 2009:
Los Angeles Times: Seeing 'Ghosts'
Dan Aykroyd is itching to suit up for a third 'Ghostbusters' film and he's in high spirits since the cast's reuniting for a Wii game.
by Geoff Boucher
Posted online on May 31 2009 at 11:08 PM PT
Printed in the L.A. Times on June 1, 2009
Dan Aykroyd has waited two decades for the "Ghostbusters" film franchise to come back from Hollywood's great beyond and now it's so close he can feel it in his bones.
"I'm just waiting for that magic phone call," Aykroyd said with a wistful smile. "One day, the producer calls you and says, 'We have a production number,' and that's the real green light. And it's coming soon, I hope....We could be in production by winter."
No Hollywood moneymaking franchise every really gives up the ghost (just ask that dusted-off archaeologist Indiana Jones), but 25 years have passed since the first "Ghostbusters" film and 20 since its lone sequel, and there's reason to wonder whether the franchise's quaint paranormal high jinks would even appeal to a "Harry Potter" generation accustomed to more sophisticated spookery.
Still, Aykroyd and Columbia Pictures are true believers when it comes to the franchise's 21st century afterlife, and one of the main reasons is the upcoming "Ghostbusters: The Video Game," a fact that says a lot about the changing physics of the modern entertainment marketplace.
On June 16, Atari will release the much-anticipated "Ghostbusters" title, which has taken on a mythical aura for gamers after years of delays, a budget north of $12 million and the number of times the property changed hands before landing at troubled Atari. Despite all that, there is intense consumer interest in the game (especially since the maneuvers required to "trap" ghosts lend themselves to some novel game play), and it brought together the core of the original cast for voice work -- two facts that have restarted the dormant "Ghostbusters" film machinery.
Ivan Reitman, producer and director of the two films, said the video game essentially hit the restart button on the franchise.
"The game itself, and the quick acceptance and intense interest in it, reminded all the creative participants that we have something special here," he said last week. "I think the game, along with the anniversary of the first movie and the Blu-ray release of the two movies [on June 16], all of it reminded us that it's kind of silly that we're not being more active about it."
"Ghostbusters" as a property is controlled by a five-way partnership: Columbia Pictures, Reitman and three of the stars -- Bill Murray, Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Each has a veto on a new project. Now, for the first time, all five think a third movie should be made. There's some agreement on a plot that involves the original stars, joined by a "new generation" of paranormal investigators.
Within the next month, a script is due from "The Office" writing tandem of Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, the same scribes behind the upcoming Ramis-directed comedy "Year One." It's not clear whether Reitman would direct or whether Ramis, the director of "Groundhog Day" and "Caddyshack," would step in.
"We're going to read the script and, really, nothing has happened or will happen until then," Reitman said. "It's just talk until then."
Perhaps, but Aykroyd, who co-wrote the two movies with Ramis, is already under the spell of the venture. Sitting on an outdoor balcony recently at the Sunset Strip House of Blues (a chain he co-founded), the 56-year-old "Saturday Night Live" alumnus couldn't disguise his excitement.
"I'd like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie," he said. "Let's revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family, but let's pass it on to a new generation."
Then, with his familiar deadpan delivery, he added that the creaky stars of the original movie just can't sling their proton packs the way they used to.
"We've all got hip replacements, shoulder stitches, Harold's eyesight is failing, I can't drive anymore...."
For years, "Ghostbusters" stood as the most successful franchise in Columbia's long history (Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" films now hold that title), with the first film pulling in $292 million worldwide and the sequel adding $215 million. In 2008, a reader poll by Entertainment Weekly ranked "Ghostbusters" as the best comedy of the previous 25 years, and the movies have been perennial strong performers on home video.
Reitman sees the franchise as an inspiration to many of the special-effects comedies that have followed, such as "Men in Black," "Beetle Juice" and this summer's "Land of the Lost," all of which blend daffy characters with intense effects and real jeopardy.
"I call them genre-benders, taking special effects and putting them together with comedy and making them work legitimately," Reitman said.
"It was a jolting thing when 'Ghostbusters' hit. In the opening sequence at the library...at the first screening, half of the people screamed like crazy and then they laughed. They were pumped. They realized they were in for a unique ride."
But is that magic still there? Aykroyd pointed to last year's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" as an example of how a 1980s brand can be updated successfully (and, he noted, the alien skulls "reminded me of the Coneheads"). The fedora revival got decidedly mixed reviews, but it also pulled in a robust $787 million worldwide. Aykroyd has revisited other past glories (some fans may remember the 1993 film "Coneheads"; most would like to forget "Blues Brothers 2000"), but Murray has been far more standoffish.
As Reitman put it: "I think he's always been the most careful about employment. I think he's the most enigmatic of us and the most hard to reach among us."
The fact that Murray lent his voice to the video game project was a major turning point, considering he had been frosty to the franchise after the 1989 sequel left a sour taste in his mouth. ("He actually showed up and did it," Aykroyd said of the voice work, "so that's a miracle.")
Murray could not be reached for comment for this article, but at a news conference last year in New York for the film "City of Ember," he expressed a newfound cheer about the franchise that solidified his stardom in the 1980s.
"The wounds of 'Ghostbusters II' are healed," the wry Murray said. He added: "We did a sequel, and it was sort of rather unsatisfying for me, because the first one to me was the goods. It was the real thing. And the sequel...the special-effects guys got it and got their hands on it. And it was just not the same movie. There were a few great scenes in it, but it wasn't the same movie."
Despite the public perception, Aykroyd said he's not mad at Murray for holding up a third chapter in the franchise.
"I don't put not making the third movie on Billy ... you can't blame an artist for not wanting to do the same thing again. He did two of them, for God's sake. Although I'm the biggest cheerleader, as the originator of the concept, I've never begrudged Billy not doing a third movie."
Murray also had positive things to say last year about the new screenwriting duo, but it's of course possible that he might read the new script and decide to pass on this entire cinematic séance. Aykroyd hopes not; he's already doing some cast daydreaming -- he'd like to see Alyssa Milano (who lends her voice to a character in the video game) and Eliza Dushku of "Dollhouse" as the first female Ghostbusters. "I think they're amazing," he said. "And I'm excited about the whole idea of getting this done."
You could almost hear Ray Parker Jr. singing the familiar theme song as Aykroyd smiled and said: "I'm just waiting for that phone call."
June 4, 2009:
Collider.com: Did GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME Bring GHOSTBUSTERS III Back From the Dead?
by Clayton Stone
Posted: June 4th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
"The time is right."
These were the words spoken by legendary director/producer Ivan Reitman last night at the Ghostbusters 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray Premiere at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills. I had the privilege to attend the event, courtesy of Fangoria, Atari, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. There, I watched the original Ghostbusters film in Blu-ray on the big screen, played the soon-to-be-released videogame, and spoke with Mr. Reitman about all things Ghostbusters, as well as his most anticipated project, Ghostbusters III.
Let's get right to it: the status of Ghostbusters III. According to Reitman, a general outline for the film has already been completed by its two writers, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (who also wrote the upcoming Harold Ramis directed film, Year One). Dan Aykroyd has been saying in interviews recently that the film will be about "passing on the torch to a new generation of Ghostbusters." Reitman said that while this is true, he stressed that it is merely one part of the story they're trying to tell. The writers are expected to turn in their first completed draft in a month or so, and all five of the Ghostbusters "rights holders" will review and approve it.
What do I mean by all five? Ghostbusters is not owned solely by Sony/Columbia Pictures. They are just one part of what Ivan Reitman considers to be a sort of Ghostbusters "family." Before anything can move forward on anything related to Ghostbusters, all five parties must submit their approval. This includes Sony/Columbia, Ivan Reitman, Dan Akryoyd, Harold Ramis, and Bill Murray. Reitman contributes the protection of the franchise (aka why there haven't been dozens of Ghostbusters sequels) to this "family." As such, Reitman stressed that "Ghostbusters III is never definite," but it's certainly looking pretty good now.
As for his involvement in the possible film's production, Reitman said that he will "definitely be involved" throughout the entirety of the project, although it is still up in the air as to whether or not he will direct it. He "absolutely wants to work with Bill Murray again" in a directing capacity on Ghostbusters III or otherwise, and said that his current goal regarding the project is to make sure the script is as funny as possible before any physical production starts (although he has acknowledged in the past that many of the original film's funniest moments were due to the cast's unmatched ability to improvise on set).
Here's the part that I find most interesting: this could be the first time, in the history of film, that a videogame's development and release has been the instigator behind the revitalization of a major film franchise. In order to create Ghostbusters: The Video Game, the producers had to receive approval from all five rights holders (as discussed above). But their persistence and love for the franchise started a chain reaction that not only got all of the parties excited for a game, but also got them to seriously consider continuing the film franchise. Last night, Reitman said that the game (and the upcoming Blu-ray release) reawakened in him the joy he felt making the first movie, and Bill Murray has said that getting back into character to do voice work as Dr. Peter Venkman for the videogame made him believe that a third film could be funny and deserves a fresh look.
Ivan Reitman also spoke for a minute about his thoughts on Ghostbusters II¸ saying that although the film will never be considered as good as the original, it is still a great companion piece. He also said that, although it hasn't been announced, he does expect a Blu-ray release of the sequel eventually, hopefully with lots of special features, as it was far better archived than the first film throughout its production. All of the previous releases of Ghostbusters II on DVD have contained little to no special features. Hopefully this will change if/when it's released on Blu-ray.
June 4, 2009:
Sci-Fi Wire: Director Ivan Reitman on why the time is finally right for Ghostbusters 3
By Fred Topel
June 4, 2009 at 1:25 PM
Ivan Reitman, who directed Ghostbusters, told a Los Angeles audience that the time finally feels right to seriously develop the long-awaited, often-rumored Ghostbusters 3. Reitman introduced an anniversary screening of the original film in support of the upcoming Blu-ray release.
"We're going to get a screenplay in a short time," Reitman said Wednesday night. "We're going to see how it is. There's something in the zeitgeist of the world right now that it feels appropriate. There are some very talented people writing the screenplay. All of our fingers are crossed."
Before his introductory remarks, Reitman spoke to a group of reporters about the Blu-ray, the Ghostbusters video game and the new sequel. The following Q&A features edited excerpts of that interview. Ghostbusters arrives on Blu-ray June 16.
What finally made a Ghostbusters 3 a real possibility?
Reitman: I actually think the combination of both the Blu-ray release and the new game sort of awakened the thirst of at least the creators of the movie to start to rethink it more seriously, the possibility of a sequel. It's something that's been sort of dormant in our minds, really, for the last 10 years or so, and there have been two things that sort of told us, "Wow, people still seem to be really interested in this story, and the characters in this story." More importantly, it sort of reawakened the joy of working on this film in both iterations.
Did the new sequels to Indiana Jones, Rocky, Rambo and Die Hard more legitimize the idea of revisiting Ghostbusters?
Reitman: No, for me, that actually makes me much more wary, frankly, but it's never been about the other movies. There have been a ton of sequels almost to all these sort of historical big movies over the years. We've never really done it. Now it's been 25 years since the first one. It's not like we'd be taking advantage of the power of the movie.
Would the new story be about passing the torch to a younger generation of comedians?
Reitman: Yeah, I think that is part of the story that we're working on right now. We'll see how it turns out. One of the reasons there's not Ghostbusters 18 right now is that we're basically this family that all have an equal voice in something. The studio is one of five equal voices. The studio would have liked to have made a bunch of them, and we've been really quite selective. Frankly, any of us can kill it.
And Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg now have a voice with the new script?
Reitman: Except for an outline, I have yet to read anything, so I think they're going to hand something in in the next month or two.
What are your hopes and fears for a new Ghostbusters?
Reitman: The most important thing [is] we don't want it to be certainly a disappointment to the people who have sort of taken this very much to their hearts. I feel the responsibility as the producer and director of the original in a very legitimate and real way. It was hard enough to do that sequel, but I think the time is kind of right. I just sort of felt it lately and said that to Columbia, so we've started this journey. The most important thing is that the script is good. I think we can find actors who can join the original group of actors to make something special of it.
June 5, 2009:
Crave Online: Ivan Reitman on Ghostbusters 3
The director talks about all aspects of the Ghostbusters franchise.
by Fred Topel
Ivan Reitman introduced a screening of the Blu Ray release of Ghostbusters. A first look at the HD transfer showed a perfectly clean and clear print of the film that will certainly be worth analyzing in detail on your home HDTV. We caught up with Reitman on classic Ghostbusters memories, the new video game and of course the new possibilities of a Ghostbusters 3.
Crave Online: How real is the possibility of a Ghostbusters 3 now?
Ivan Reitman: Ghostbusters 3 is never definite. We're not being coy when we say this. We have sort of this very complicated arrangement. A lot of people have a say in what's going to happen.
Crave Online: Would you still direct it?
Ivan Reitman: Certainly as producer and director of the original movie, I'm going to have that opportunity. The only way I could direct it is if I felt that I could find something wonderfully new to do and to live up to the tradition of the first one. So don't write that I'm going to direct the next one. I'm not sure and I'm not even sure that there is going to be a next one but I think there's certainly a great interest in doing it.
Crave Online: What's changed to even make this a real possibility?
Ivan Reitman: You know, I took a lot of crap when we finally did the sequel. I certainly don't think the sequel is as good as the original and it almost never is except in really rare occasions, but I remember making the sequel and thinking, "Wow, this is really hard because we don't have the surprise in our pockets that we had." When we were making the original, I kept thinking, "Wow, this is going to be great. People have no idea what we're doing and we're going to come out and it's going to be a magical experience." It turned out to be that. With the sequel, I kept thinking, "Oh my God, we're going to get killed. There's no way to recapture the magic of the first one." We had sort of let a little bit too much time go by from the first to the second, so on the cycle of people's interests, we were in the wrong part of the cycle. I'd like to think now we're back to a greater interest to it.
Crave Online: Are you a Blu Ray fan?
Ivan Reitman: Yeah, I'm an early adopter. I have a collection of over 4000 laserdiscs and then all of a sudden this thing called DVDs came out so I'm used to this.
Crave Online: What makes Ghostbusters such a favorite still 25 years later?
Ivan Reitman: I think there's something about the combination of the actors are very, very special. They're unique talents with an extraordinary voice individually that seem to combine beautifully as a piece of music. I think that in combination with Dan Aykroyd's unique, crazy vision of this idea and the sort of mixture of genres of real good comedy with really kind of a legitimate, scary, science fiction story. It was the first time anyone sort of tried to do that. Mel Brooks had done it in a humorous way a little bit before me but I really took it seriously. I was always kind of a horror, science fiction fan. So I thought if I was going to do it even as a comedy, I wanted to legitimize it so that people who were fans of the genre would really appreciate it as well.
Crave Online: With the game showcasing 3D animation, would you consider a 3D version?
Ivan Reitman: It's possible. I just saw Up which is a lovely movie and really works and the 3D is done in such a subtle way, it actually works fabulously in it. Yeah, it's a possibility but don't start writing that we're doing it in 3D.
Crave Online: Were there other scripts over the years you'd shot down?
Ivan Reitman: Yes. Not a lot because it's always been a closed shop. There'd be people who spec scripts that we didn't even look at because we just didn't want to get into all the legal issues that you could imagine would come from that.
Crave Online: Ghostbusters II does get short shrift. Where's that Blu Ray?
Ivan Reitman: I'm sure there will be one by the way. It's only a matter of time. The problem with Ghostbusters II is that it came out a week before the first Batman came out. That was such a startling new [vision]. It was the hot movie of that year. There's something about when movies are released that really affect our viewpoint of a particular movie at the time. We waited a little bit too long to do the sequel for the very reasons that we've waited so long to talk about a third one, so I think it's affected things. It affected certainly the viewpoint of that movie. I'm actually very happy with the film. I think there's some really nice things in it, some very funny things in it. It's not the first one. It never can be the first one but it's kind of a very interesting companion movie. I've been hearing a lot over the years, particularly lately, how on reviewing the film, it seems to be holding up kind of nicely.
Crave Online: The DVD of II had no extras. Do you have behind the scenes or deleted scenes for a Blu Ray?
Ivan Reitman: A lot of times things disappear but I think we were more careful to archive the material from the second one. I do think Sony is planning a Blu Ray version of that movie as its popularity has certainly held on. It was actually quite a successful movie in itself so I think it probably is going to come and if it does, they'll certainly look through everything to give us as much background stuff as there is.
Crave Online: What are your favorite Blu Rays?
Ivan Reitman: I thought the Third Man disc was really amazing. I just looked at it the other day. I have about 150 of them. I have a little theater in my home. I have a projection television so Blu Ray really helps projection television when you're up on a fairly large scale.
Crave Online: How does it feel to arrive at this theater and see guys in Ghostbusters uniforms?
Ivan Reitman: I was really excited, guys. Three of these guys just drove in all the way from Salt Lake City apparently. I'm a little tired, I'm usually asleep by this time so just showing up at a movie theater in the town that I live and seeing a dozen guys with the full regalia really was thrilling. It did remind me of the first day of shooting of the first Ghostbusters and I was on Madison Avenue at 61st. We'd been working on the designs. The pre-production on that movie was very, very short. It was really kind of a magical, very creative process. Bill Murray literally had just arrived in town 24 hours before we started shooting and I'd never seen him in an outfit. I'd seen some stuff in the costumer's place just to see what it looked like and suddenly, I just turn around, I'm getting ready for the first shot and it's one of the montage shots from the first movie as they start to get busy and the Ghostbusters song really kicks in for the first time, I look up and here comes the three guys with all their crap on. It's the first time I had ever seen that image and it's right in New York, right on a real street, right on a famous street, right with shoppers all turning around like who the hell are these guys and what are they doing and what is that symbol. We shot it and I got this wonderful shiver of recognition of oh, I think we're doing something special. That's what I thought and it's kind of nice 25 years later to just sort of see that and get the same kind of lovely feeling in my spine.
Crave Online: What do you think of the game?
Ivan Reitman: I'm not a big gamer. My kids are pretty good gamers but I think the technology hit my own generation oddly so I didn't get into it in the same kind of way. It seemed appropriate and I think this group was just persistent enough to get the actors involved, the real actors involved and I think that was very important. It just caught this sort of growing wave of interest in Ghostbusters itself. And it's fortuitous that it all happened.
Crave Online: Are you excited that games can look like movies?
Ivan Reitman: Yeah. I mean, look, my friend Bob Zemeckis told me that he doesn't ever want to work with actors but he's in fact working with actors all the time which this sort of motion capture. He had some goofy name for it but it sort of feels like rotoscope still to me from the old days. I think you're still relying on the performance, both the vocal performance and even the physicality of a real human being for that. So yes, it allows you to do unique things, but for me the magic is in the skill of the performer. So for me to get to work with Bill Murray, nothing could be more exciting. To try to harness that kind of skill and allow people to see what he can do both with his brain and with his body is the most exciting thing a person can do in a creative process. Yeah, technology is all fine and good however it's done, whether it's animated films or the kind of special effects that now are within our ability to use, but what counts is story. Finally, are we involved in the story or not? That trumps everything.
Crave Online: Whether it's Ghosbusters 3 or something else, do you look for the same inspiration in any project you'd direct?
Ivan Reitman: It's really tough to find something like Ghostbusters again. The one time I sort of traveled into the area, it was not a very happy experience. I normally just try to tell a good story, nothing to do with genre, nothing to do with trying to imitate myself. I think that's kind of dangerous. Over the years, I've been lucky, I've worked with great writers and great actors and been able to tell some pretty good stories.
September 11, 2009:
Baltimore Magazine: Dan Aykroyd in Baltimore
By Jess Blumberg
Will Slimer be making a cameo in the upcoming Ghostbusters movie?
I'm going to see the script in the next few hours, I'm about to read the third script, I've been submitted it and we'll see what happens.
September 19, 2009:
Sun Media: 'Ghostbusters 3' a possibility?
Director Ivan Reitman chatting up the idea of a possible third film in the franchise
By Kevin Williamson
Some things are better left dead.
But in the case of 1984's Ghostbusters, there are increasing signs of a lucrative afterlife. The latest? Producer-director Ivan Reitman expressing cautious optimism a third movie will materialize after decades of development.
"There is an opportunity because the passing-of-the-hat story is a good story to tell, so at least there's a clear variation that can be told," Reitman says. "We actually got a promising first draft a few weeks ago and we'll see where that goes."
This would confirm that the proposed screenplay by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky -- who are also writers for TV's The Office -- features original cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson training a new generation of paranormal exterminators.
For the studio, restarting Ghostbusters is a no-brainer -- especially considering the billions of box-office dollars raked in by the revivals of such other 1980s-era franchises as Indiana Jones and Star Trek.
"It's so damned expensive to make movies and market them, (studios are) not really interested in stories," Reitman tells Sun Media. "They're interested in brands because brands are easy to market."
But a brand, as any moviegoer knows, doesn't guarantee a good film. And as Reitman admits with a laugh, "I can only go downhill. The first movie's pretty damned good and we had the advantage of being a surprise. It was a fresh story well-told with great actors in it."
He acknowledges 1989's Ghostbusters II was more problematic. "We got the first two acts in pretty good shape and then the last act of our story didn't come up to it. I'm really happy with the movie, but it was certainly not up to the creative level of the first film."
So he is determined Ghostbusters 3 be about more than just a mere payday.
But would he consider handing it over to another filmmaker?
"For me as a director it would be very hard to let anyone else direct it. I do feel very possessive of it. I'm the sole producer and director of the first two, so I feel it's both my obligation and my right to do it. But I won't do it and won't allow it to happen unless it's good."
Reitman reveals he and Murray actually met up last weekend during the Toronto International Film Festival when the actor attended a party for Up in the Air, which Reitman produced and his son, Jason, directed.
"I spent a wonderful four hours with him a few days ago, just catching up on ourselves. And it sure would be fun to work with him again. I think of him as my brother. He's really one of the great actors we have working in the English language. He's this unique, original persona."
And Ghostbusters isn't the only Reitman/Murray collaboration that may be soon reinvigorated for today's generation.
He adds, a little incredulously, "Paramount has bought the remake rights to Meatballs for God's sake and assigned me to develop them. Now that's weird."
September 23, 2009:
Chicago Sun Times / Proton Charging: Chicago Sun Times says Ramis in LA for Ghostbusters meeting (September 23, 2009)
The Chicago Sun Times entertainment column says Harold Ramis is currently in LA, having been called there for a meeting about a third Ghostbusters film. This means that we can now safely add Harold Ramis to the list of people who had the script for review, as was previously assumed seeing as Dan Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman had said they had copies.
Stars turn out to Hollywood event for Chicago's celebsAgain, more encouraging news, as being called for the meeting does show Sony is interested in Ghostbusters, and wants to talk to Ramis, who is the current champion of Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, the writers who drafted this third version of the second sequel's script.
by Bill Zwecker
Chicago Sun-Times
September 22, 2009
STAR CHATTER: Harold Ramis only made the party because he'd been called to L.A. for a quick meeting about the long-anticipated sequel of "Ghostbusters."
But for all we know the meeting is for either side to say the script isn't ready. Still... Encouraging.
September 30, 2009:
MovieWeb: EXCLUSIVE: Harold Ramis Talks Ghostbusters 3
by Paulington James Christensen III
This summer, movie blogs were buzzing with excitement when it was announced that Columbia Pictures was moving ahead on its long anticipated Ghostbusters 3 sequel. After Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg signed onto write the screenplay, all four Ghostbusters announced that they would be returning as well. While promoting the release of his upcoming DVD Year One, which hits stores on October 6th, director Harold Ramis, perhaps best known as Dr. Egon Spengler, was kind enough to talk with us about once again slipping into that Ghostbusters uniform. Here is what he had to say:
This summer it was announced that Ghostbusters 3 was definitely a go, and the Internet was buzzing with excitement. You directed a number of The Office episodes, which Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg wrote. Did that have anything to do with getting the ball rolling on this long gestating sequel?
Harold Ramis: Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg also co-wrote Year One, and the studio was really impressed with their work. They also worked on another film that the studio just bought. They are good at what they do. Gene has been a protégé of mine since college, and Lee was a waiter I met at Martha's Vineyard. They both started as interns and production assistants at Sony. I virtually read everything they had written up until they got their jobs on The Office. It has been a nice relationship. The studio didn't only think they were good, but they thought there was a convenient link to Ghostbusters 3 through me.
Why do you feel, at this date and time, it's so important to revisit Ghostbusters? Is it purely financial, or do you truly feel you can push these characters in a new and exciting direction that we haven't seen before?
Harold Ramis: It's Dan Aykroyd. He has been keeping this idea alive. This is his original concept, and he's wanted to do this for a while. He even wrote a spec script years ago. The twenty-fifth anniversary came, we had the new Blu-ray, and the videogame release, and people still seem so very excited about this movie. The response from the game was tremendous. Everywhere I went, people were asking about it. I thought, why not? Why can't there be a Ghostbusters 3? I have to remind people that they didn't like Ghostbusters 2 very much. But they still seem to want a third one. Finally, Murray said yes. I thought, "Well, we have a good script. Why not?" Ivan Reitman said yes. It can be done. It can happen.
Can you share anything about Dr. Egon's life in 2012? Is he having a hard time dealing with the effects of the Mayan Calendar? Has he found love? Does he have a kid?
Harold Ramis: I had two initial first instincts. One was that Egon had become a shaved head Buddhist monk. That is not going to happen. The thing that I pitched for my character is that he's been living in Geneva, and he works for the Institute of Imaginary Science. The work we are doing doesn't require any conceptual, intellectual, special, or mathematical models for what we are doing. Even we don't know what we are doing. It's that theoretical.
The film is listed as coming out in 2012. Is it going to deal with the Mayan calendar and the end of the world?
Harold Ramis: That is pure speculation. We are not going to do that.
Who would you like to see as the new Ghostbusters? Are you eyeing any potential new talent?
Harold Ramis: Every young actor will be mentioned. No one is signed or has been approached.
The end of the first one is so legendary, how hard is it to top that, or are you even concerned about that?
Harold Ramis: I think we are just going to try and make a good movie. The intention of a sequel is not to give an audience more of what they didn't get enough of the first time. It's to give the audience something that is new. We want them to feel that they are having a new experience of some kind. That becomes a tightrope. Yeah, we definitely are introducing new Ghostbusters. That much is for sure. And there will be inter-dimensional creatures visiting New York. And we will deal with it. That's all I am allowed to say at this point.
October 7, 2009:
IESB: IESB Exclusive Interview with Ernie Hudson
by Christina Radish
[excerpt from a much larger interview]
IESB: When you hear all the rumors about the possibility of a Ghostbusters 3 for all these years, is that something you hope will eventually happen, or have you just become indifferent about it because you've been waiting for so long?
Ernie: We did the first Ghostbusters, and that was really trying for me, in a lot of ways. I worked really hard on the movie for four months, and then the movie came out and was very successful, but work didn't necessarily come for me, as a result of it. And then, it took five years to get the second one ready, and that was a challenge, too. Now, it's been 20 years since the second one.
I knew Bill Murray really loved the franchise, but he was the hold-out. The discussion with him has always been that he really wants to do something exceptional. We tapped into something that was really creative and different with the first one, so you want to be able to bring that challenge to it. The whole economic thing becomes an excuse to do nothing, so the tendency with studios is, "Okay, let's just do something." And then, because we have the audience out there, even if we do something bad, by the time they realize it's bad, we'll have made the money. But, I know that's not what Bill Murray wants to do, and that's certainly not something I want to do.
It's a real catch-22 because you really would love to do another one, since the fans have been asking for it, but you also want to be able to stand by the work that you do. I'm really happy to have been a part of the movie. A lot of actors work for years and never find [something that special]. Ghostbusters is nice to have in my filmography. Wherever I go, people have seen the movie and love it, so that's really nice.
IESB: So, you'd be happy to return for another film, if they get a script together?
Ernie: I would love to do the movie, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I'd love to get paid. So, when Bill Murray says, "I only want to do it if it's something really extraordinary that we can really commit to," it's a little bit different than my thing. I'm saying that I only want to do the movie for that reason, unless they pay me a lot of money. I'm probably more conscious of that. But, the fans are there. Wherever I go, people are always asking about it. I think the studio wants to do it, but hopefully the script will be really good.
Harold Ramis is taking the lead in it, from what I've been reading. I hear about it like the fans do. I saw Harold at the opening of his film Year One in New York, so I know that he's been putting together a script that everyone will be happy with. I talked to Bill recently, and I know that Danny [Aykroyd] has been wanting to do it since the day we finished the second one. We're all up for it. It just has to be something we can be proud of and stand by. I'd love for it to happen. I think it would be very, very cool. But, it really needs to be something that makes sense. I don't want to just do a cameo. If we're going to do it, I want to be involved.
IESB: Did you enjoy returning to the character for the recent video game?
Ernie: I really was very happy with the game because the characters were very much there. My character was totally involved. It was a lot of fun to do the voice-over, and having all the guys back to do it was really cool. So, I'm hoping the movie happens, but I have not heard from Ivan Reitman or the studio, or anybody who signs checks. Until that happens, it's still just speculation. They also came out with a whole new series of toys. Wherever I travel, or when I was doing the play, people show up with the toys for me to sign.
October 10, 2009:
Screen Week: Ivan Reitman on Ghostbusters 3: "It's now official and everybody's in it!"
by Gabriele Niola
Ivan Reitman has spoken: Ghostbuster 3 is on it's way.
"For the first time" said the director and producer of the first two movies "possibilities are more positive than negative. Before we needed some twist to be able to make it, now if there isn't any other major change we will do it".
Rumors that were circulating for long finally got confirmation in Sitges, the fantasy festival that takes place in the omonymous spanish village near Barcelona since 1967. In this same festival Reitman won an award for his first movie, Cannibal Girls, and here this year he's going to receive an honorary award, so as it is natural here he made this announcement.
It took so long to come to a decision about the new Ghostbusters because all the rights holders were able to say their word on the plot, and they're a lot! "It's never easy to bring all these people to an agreement on something" says the director, but now there's a script, a definitive one, complete and approved.
Not only the long awaited sequel is coming, all the original cast will be in it: "The project needs the presence of everyone" including Sigourney Weaver?? "Including Sigourney Weaver!" confirms Reitman.
Not even a word can be said on the plot: "I will never tell you what's like", but surely Ivan Reitman will direct once again and for sure the story won't be the same as the new videogame. Reitman got nothing to do with its development apart for the final approval (which came easily), but anyway the game (which an heavily involved in the production Dan Aykroyd some months ago called "the third Ghostbusters' movie") had optimus influence on the final green light for Ghostbusters 3: "[The videogame's] big success convinced many of the people involved in the production that there's still engagement with ghosts busting".
We won't know the plot but at least will it be similar to the past two or not? "The second movie was some kind of exploitation of the first but was too heavily based on special effects, in that way losing grip on what were the driving forces of the first: characters and jokes. This is something I still regret and now I'd like to pay tribute to those wonderful characters with this new one".
October 22, 2009:
BFI Film Festival / Proton Charging: Reitman talks GB3 – Sony very interested, it's all about script
Sitting on a panel on October 22, 2009 at the BFI Film Festival, Ivan Reitman was, unsurprisingly, asked about Ghostbusters 3. His response is similar to recent comments, but he did point out that Sony is very interested in a sequel, and the major stumbling block right now is a script that everyone is happy with. Amusingly, at the end, Atom Egoyan jokes that his version of the film would focus on the last 25 years of the Ghostbusters relationships with their significant others, and Julianne Moore joked she'd play one of those old wives.
[Video]
December 17, 2009:
The Hollywood Reporter: Ghostbusters 3: Director Reitman Says Next Generation Is Coming
by Roger Friedman
Who you gonna call? "Ghostbusters," that's who.
Director Ivan Reitman confirmed for me yesterday what Sigourney Weaver recently alluded to an interview for her movie, "Avatar." Reitman says a script for "G3? is being worked on now, and all signs point to some ghost-busting for 2010. The new story combines the original characters with new ones, including Sigourney's kid with Bill Murray, Oscar.
December 28, 2009:
Heeb Magazine: Ramis on Ghostbusters 3: "Plans to Shoot Next Summer and Release in 2011"
by Dreidel_hustler
Here comes the Ghostbusters question: What's up with part three?
Something's going to happen. Dan [Aykroyd] did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it. Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel. We'll introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too. Think Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future ... GB3 is progressing with plans to shoot next summer and release in 2011 ... Oh, and I have two one-of-a-kind Ghostbuster yarmulkes sent by fans.
* Ghostbusters yarmulke photo that accompanied article
MTV: 'Ghostbusters 3' Script Is In, Ivan Reitman Confirms He WILL Direct
by Adam Rosenberg
Posted 1/13/2010 12:17 pm ET
* Video
A few weeks ago, "Ghostbusters" writer and star Harold Ramis revealed that the long-awaited third movie in the series is planned for a 2011 release. This news broke only a short time after "Avatar" star Sigourney Weaver speculated that Bill Murray's character Pete Venkman might appear in the movie as a slimer ghost, and that Oscar, her character's son from the second movie, would be a full-fledged Ghostbuster.
Ivan Reitman, director and producer of the first two movies, stopped to chat with MTV's Josh Horowitz last night on the National Board of Review red carpet in New York City. He shied away from addressing Weaver's spoiler-y speculation, but he did have some things to say about the general state of development for "Ghostbusters III."
Reitman said that the script from "Year One" writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky is in and that a second draft is currently in the works. He also confirmed that he will indeed be returning to direct the coming sequel, as had been previously speculated.
"They have delivered a draft," Reitman said of the script's progress. "We are working our way through another draft... good work is being done and all of us have our fingers crossed."
What he wouldn't do was address exactly what that "good work" entailed. Asked about Weaver's recent comments, Reitman laughed and kept things light.
"I'm not going to comment on what's in the script and on what Sigourney may or may not have said," he told us. "She's been so busy on 'Avatar,' I've not been able to find her. There's some very cool things in the new draft, let's just put it that way."
Reitman was all business again when the talk turned back to the schedule. "I hope to start shooting in this next year," he said, giving weight to Ramis' recent comments about a planned 2011 release.
Then the bomb dropped. Asked if he would be returning to direct "Ghostbusters III," Reitman answered with a simple and unequivocal "Yes." It's good to see the old gang all getting back together, isn't it?
February 6, 2010:
Mail On Sunday: 'Actors get high salaries for the travel and trouble of being well known': the world according to Bill Murray
By Martyn Palmer
I'll come back in Ghostbusters III only if I get to be a ghost.
I said to them, 'I'll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.' So now they are going to have me as a ghost in the film.
The first 45 minutes of the original Ghostbusters is some of the funniest stuff ever made.
The second one was disappointing, because the special-effects guys took over. I had something like two scenes - and they're the only funny ones in the movie.
February 8, 2010:
Cinematical: 'Ghostbusters 3' News: Murray Confirms Rumors, Possible Villain Revealed?
by Erik Davis
Feb 8, 2010 // 12:32PM
Meanwhile, as most talk revolves around the returning actors and the identity of the new recruits, little has been said about the film's mythology and who (or what) the Ghostbusters will be battling this time around. Well, Cinematical has it on very good authority that as recent as this past summer, the central mythology of the sequel was being based on Zoroastrianism, which is one of the earliest religions on record. Like with most religions, the war between good and evil is at its central core, and in terms of evil there's Ahriman: the god of darkness, the eternal destroyer of good, personification and creator of evil, bringer of death and disease.
Is Ahriman the film's villain?
Unfortunately, we cannot confirm that Ahriman is or isn't the villain, but if the writers are still working with Zoroastrianism as the basis for the film's mythology, then it would make sense that Ahriman would play a big role in unleashing evil spirits into our world, much like Gozer did in the first film. Ahriman also existed as a character in Highlander: The Series, where it was said that the demon returned to Earth every thousand years to wreak havoc. Like we said before, this is all speculation based on the news that Ghostbusters 3 will revolve in some way around the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. Of course, as we hear more, we'll let you know.
February 12, 2010:
Sci-Fi Wire: Will Bill Murray be a spook in Ghostbusters III?
By Scott Huver
Feb. 12, 2010 at 2:49 PM
Ivan Reitman ain't afraid of no sequels! But the legendary Ghostbusters director-producer admits it took the unexpected success of a video game tie-in and a bit of not-so-subtle maneuvering by the studio to resurrect the once-huge comedy franchise from the dead - and he addresses Bill Murray's professed desire to play a more ethereal version of Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters III.
"Certainly Sony has been all over us for about two decades now, trying to get this going," Reitman told us at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. "We have this sort of very interesting deal in which we really control the forward progress of the movie. [Sony] did a very interesting thing: They actually hired these two writers on their own, without consulting us, and basically said, 'We're going to start.'"
Reitman said screenwriters Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky - best known for their work on NBC's The Office and the film Year One - are "very good writers, fortunately, and they wrote a first draft that was pretty good, considering that they didn't really talk to us that much. And I've since then been working with them for the last four or five months, just trying to get more of the kind of spirit of the film into it."
Reitman added: "There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm from everybody" about the return of original stars Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Sigourney Weaver. "We'll see. It's still not a reality. There are no deals. There's no real finished script."
Murray was long assumed to be the lone holdout from the original cast, sliming plans for sequels for years. But the actor recently suggested that he'd return to the role under one condition: that he gets to play a ghost.
"We're well aware of his interest," Reitman said with a chuckle when asked whether Murray's Venkman will be going ectoplasmic. "I've had some wonderful conversations with him - and that's all I'll say.
"It was really such a special part of my life, and such a turning point, really, in my career," recalled Reitman. "I love working with those men. I've worked with Bill Murray five times and Dan Aykroyd a few times and Harold Ramis five or six times, and Sigourney Weaver I worked with three times. So the fact that they put out this video game that turned out to be one of the biggest video games of the year sort of reminded us how much resonance the story still seems to have."
March 1, 2010:
Late Show with David Letterman: Bill Murray Appearance/Interview
The entire GB talk can be seen from 4:02 to 7:32 in this video clip (click the link above). Bill also mentions that Al Roker is a Ghostbusters fan.
March 17, 2010:
New York Magazine: Vulture Exclusive: Columbia Wants a Younger Director for Ghostbusters III, But Ivan Reitman’s Contract Says Otherwise
by Claude Brodesser-Akner
3/17/10 at 4:00 PM
Columbia's plan to reboot Ghostbusters is being haunted by a Mike Ovitz–orchestrated deal made in the early eighties on behalf of the series' original director-producer, Ivan Reitman. The studio's strategy is to revitalize the franchise for next year by having the original 'busters train a dramatically younger crew in Ghostbusters III, while a correspondingly younger director handles things behind the camera. However, Reitman's old contract - made at the height of his and Ovitz's powers - still gives him exceptional creative control over the series, including director approval. "Those deals were made in the eighties," explains one insider. "So his rights in this circumstance have a great deal of teeth." Therefore, while it's true that Reitman can't force Columbia to make Ghostbusters III with him, he can make it nearly impossible for the studio to make the film without him.
In fact, a source tells us that Reitman and all three original principals (Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis … sorry, Ernie Hudson!) have a deal that says that if any of the four of them don't like any element of a new Ghostbusters, they can singlehandedly veto and kill the project; it has to be unanimously approved before going forward. (Considering that both Aykroyd and Ramis have been consulting on the story, Murray is likely the only unknown quantity on the actors' side.) However, the key difference is that Columbia would love for these actors to be onboard to pass the torch and cross the streams. Not so with Reitman.
Reitman was just 42 years old when he directed the first Ghostbusters sequel in 1989, and at the time had the most lucrative track record in comedy filmmaking: Twins and Ghostbusters II grossed some $300 million that same year. But now, at 63, Reitman (whose last movie was the bomb My Super Ex-Girlfriend) is precisely what the studio isn't looking for: While the second draft of the script for Ghostbusters III - penned by The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky - won't be handed in until May, insiders say that by introducing a group of twentysomething 'busters, Columbia's brass hopes to do with the franchise what it's doing with Spider-Man by hiring on (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb.
But the studio can't fully realize that plan unless Reitman bails. Sony hoped the problem would be solved for them if Reitman were too busy on another project, which they thought just happened: Vulture has learned that Paramount green-lighted a new comedy to be directed by Reitman called Friends With Benefits (originally titled Fuckbuddies). Co-financed by the director's Montecito Picture Company, FWB will star Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman in what's described as "an inverse Harry Met Sally," a sex comedy wherein two friends in a purely physical relationship begin to develop true romantic feelings for one another. Pressed for details, a source close to the project laughed and said, "It's pretty much what you'd expect from a spec script that was originally entitled Fuckbuddies."
(In its defense, Fuckbuddies is the offspring of Liz Meriwether, youngest member of the "Fempire" - the chick screenwriting cabal that also includes Dana Fox (What Happens in Vegas), Diablo Cody (Juno), and Lorene Scafaria (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist). The script also made 2008's Hollywood Black List of great-but-unproduced screenplays.)
However, Sony's hopes that FWB would lead to Reitman making a graceful exit from Ghostbusters III will likely be dashed. Insiders familiar with Reitman's plans say he thinks the two comedies are not mutually exclusive, and still plans to direct both, raising serious questions about whether Sony will want to proceed with Ghostbusters III at all. However, losing Ghostbusters would make a tough 2011 even tougher, as the studio has no other franchise blockbuster scheduled.
Either way, the studio might want to revisit the words of Reitman himself from a 1989 Los Angeles Times interview, in which he downplayed the merits of ever doing another Ghostbusters again: "Ghostbusters II wasn't as much fun to make as the first one," Reitman explained. "In comedy, the element of surprise is everything. And I think once that element of surprise is gone, once people know there's going to be ghosts, there's going to be big ghosts, and they're expecting something big at the end, a lot of the tools that are at your disposal are gone."
March 18, 2010:
Examiner: Ivan Reitman is too directing 'Ghostbusters III'
by Jim Dixon
March 18, 6:58 PM
Ivan Reitman is directing "Ghostbusters III," contrary to reports published by some websites. Collider reports that:
Ivan Reitman's confirmed this past January that he was directing 'Ghostbusters III,' so the news that Columbia wants a younger director to take on the project is pretty shocking. Vulture is now reporting that Columbia is looking to take the project in a somewhat different direction, one that doesn't involve Reitman.
This news did seem pretty shocking, so I went to Sony for their comment. A source close to the production, in response to the question whether Reitman had left or was leaving the project, tells me: "Not true. He is our director."
The same source also tells us that the project remains in "priority development" and there is nothing to report other than "continued progress on our script."
Good news for fans of the franchise, this one included.