How They Should Have Made Ghostbusters III

As already stated, the cast needed to return, but once again in a major capacity.

Every time Aykroyd updated us on the script’s development, he rarely neglected to mention the casting and general structure of the movie. He typically stressed that the original Ghostbusters would be taking a narrative back seat, with focus insteadon a new and younger team with Aykroyd and co. as their mentors.

“Passing the torch” movies are always an uncertain gamble, particularly for a comedy. For it to work, you would have needed an equally funny and talented group of actors, with unmistakable charisma and relationships. Not to say this couldn’t have been done, but there’s a very minor chance it would have captured similar magic.

The preferable route for Ghostbusters III would have kept the cast relatively small-scale. A strong focus on the same crew would have made a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, giving them one final adventure together and a proper send-off.

But if Aykroyd felt that passing the torch was the best way to go, the story could have dipped its toes into new character territory. Whereas an instant replacement team would feel like overkill, one or (maximum) two younger Ghostbusters would have made a better experiment, and provide a hook if the franchise were to continue without the original cast.