How They Should Have Made Ghostbusters III

In a story sense, Ghostbusters II was certainly a step in the wrong direction. From a lack of interest on everyone’s part, it mostly felt like an uninspired repeat of something we’d seen before, only not as good. To successfully revive and redeem the series, III should have offered us the polar opposite.

Another play-it-safe movie was definitely not welcome by anyone, and Dan Aykroyd’s various pitches from the past two decades seemingly reflect that. They generally involve the Ghostbusters in unfamiliar territory, ranging from the team going to hell, adventures in alternate dimensions, and Venkman dying in the first act (only to return as a ghost himself).

While this might sound too insane for some fans, one can’t deny that seeing the Ghostbusters under radically new circumstances would at least be interesting and refreshing. This is also what makes Ivan Reitman integral to the series - to serve as Aykroyd's voice of reason. In the midst of the eccentric Aykroyd's insane ideas, it's Reitman's job to scale it back where necessary, and keep the tone and humour on point.