Ghostbusters 3 Confirmed: Jason Reitman Directing, Original Cast Return?
Could this be Dan Aykroyd's secret 'Bustin' project?!
It's happening again, folks. We're standing on the precipice looking into a future that seemingly holds a new Ghostbusters movie and it's hard not to get excited. Even with that last one still hanging in the air a little...
News has broken today that Ivan Reitman's son Jason is bringing the beloved franchise back to the big screen. As told by Entertainment Weekly, Reitman will direct and co-write an upcoming film set in the original universe rather than the new timeline established in the all-female reboot, despite claiming in 2005 that there'd "be no bustin'" in his career:
“I’ve always thought of myself as the first Ghostbusters fan, when I was a 6-year-old visiting the set. I wanted to make a movie for all the other fans. This is the next chapter in the original franchise. It is not a reboot. What happened in the ‘80s happened in the ‘80s, and this is set in the present day.”
He qualified specifically that it wouldn't be in the all-female reboot's universe:
“I have so much respect for what Paul [Feig] created with those brilliant actresses, and would love to see more stories from them. However, this new movie will follow the trajectory of the original film."
The film is coming from Sony Pictures in Summer 2020 and shooting will start in a few months. Reitman says he has "wonderful surprises and new characters for the audience to meet" but you'd think that his affection for the original, and his relationship with its director would mean he'll stick close to at least some of the original elements.
He talked up his love for the original to EW, which should be music to the ears of its fans:
“I love everything about it. The iconography. The music. The tone. I remember being on set and seeing them try out the card catalog gag for the first time when the library ghost makes them come flying out. I remember the day they killed Stay Puft and I brought home a hardened piece of foam that just sat on a shelf for years. I was scared there was a terror dog underneath my bed before people knew what a terror dog was.”
This actually isn't the first we've heard of this project - it's just we didn't know it. Not so long ago, Dan Aykroyd appeared on The Big Interview with Dan Rather and let the cat out of the bag on the screenplay front, as well as excitingly hinting at a reunion for the remaining original cast:
“There is a possibility of a reunion with the three remaining Ghostbusters. It’s being written right now... I think Billy will come. The story’s so good. Even if he plays a ghost.”
And for further suggestion that it'll be a direct sequel to Ghostbusters 2? Well, Ivan Reitman is back on board producing and he has pretty big hints at the original cast returning to usher in a new generation of Ghostbusters:
“It will be a passing of the torch both inside and out. It was a decision he had to come to himself. He worked really hard to be independent and developed a wonderful career on his own. So I was quite surprised when he came to me with Gil and said, ‘I know I’ve been saying for 10 years I’m the last person who should make a Ghostbusters movie, but…I have this idea.’ Literally, I was crying by the end of it, it was so emotional and funny.”
This is all very exciting! According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film has been in early production for months now under the working title Rust City and the main characters will be four teens, two boys, and two girls.
On top of Ghostbusters 3, Sony is also developing an animated Ghostbusters film, hopefully following the style of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, but that will come out after this new live-action project, and a different team is making it.
What do you think of this news?