[h=2]'Ghostbusters 3' to Shoot in Early 2015 But Ivan Reitman Won't Direct[/h] by
Ethan Anderton
March 18, 2014
Source: Deadline
After years and years of rumors, ups and downs, and a bunch of non-news, it sounds like
Ghostbusters 3 will finally move into production in early 2015.
Deadline has word that Sony Pictures is hoping to being production in New York sometime in that window, but
Ivan Reitman will no longer be directing. Despite
some grumbling back in 2010, the studio apparently didn't have a problem with bringing Reitman back into the fray to direct a new
Ghostbusters, and at one time in 2012, Paramount Pictures
even paused development on Reitman's football film
Draft Day because he was reported to go shoot the sequel.
Read on!
But now, with the
passing of Harold Ramis still fresh in his mind (and
reports of a reworked script coming down the line because of it), Reitman has decided step out from behind the camera, and will help the studio find a new director to take over what is being considered a
reboot. Reitman gave a lengthy statement to Deadline about his decision saying:
“There has been all kinds of stuff, unofficially written about 'Ghostbusters.' I’ve been reading things online for about four years, speculation on who’s writing, what they’re writing, who’s in it, who we will use, and who’s directing. We’d decided not to comment up till now, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, and it was never clear what Bill [Murray] was going to do. A lot of things happened in the last few months, the most significant of which was the passing of Harold, who was a very good friend who was extraordinarily influential in my career. We did five movies together including both 'Ghostbusters.'”
And then he dived into the various versions of
Ghostbusters 3 that have emerged over the years:
“The first was done by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and me, Harold [Ramis] and Dan [Aykroyd] helped them on it. It was a really good script, but then it became clear that Bill really didn’t want to do another Ghostbusters and that it was literally impossible to find him to speak to for the year or two we tried to get it going.
When Bill finally…well, he never actually said no, but he never said yes, so there was no way to make that film. We decided to start over again, and I started working with Etan Cohen, with Dan lending a helping hand. Harold got sick about three years ago, and we kept hoping he would get better. I kept pushing forward on the Etan Cohen and we now have a draft that is very good, that the studio is very excited about."
So what made him decide to stick with the project even after Ramis' death?
“It’s a version of 'Ghostbusters' that has the originals in a very minor role. When I came back from Harold’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I’d just finished directing 'Draft Day,' which I’m really happy with and proud of. Working on a film that is smaller and more dramatic was so much fun and satisfying. I just finally met with Amy [Pascal] and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I’d been thinking about it for weeks, that I’d rather just produce this 'Ghostbusters.' I told them I thought I could help but let’s find a really good director and make it with him. So that’s what we’ve agreed will happen. I didn’t want all kinds of speculation about what happened with me, that is the real story.”
So what kind of reboot are we looking at here, and who might direct ? Unfortunately, Reitman wasn't ready to divulge any details saying, "I’m not going to say how many
Ghostbusters there will be in the new cast, but we are determined to
retain the spirit of the original film, and I am pleased that all of this seems to have happened organically. I’m hoping we can get started by the fall, set in New York, but given the logistics and the stuff that happens,
the beginning of 2015 seems more likely.” For my money, I think Sony needs to call in their
21 Jump Street and
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs directors
Phil Lord & Chris Miller to direct, because they seem to be able to do no wrong.
Thoughts?
