If the Ghostbusters co-founder Ivan Reitman has anything to do with the future of the ghoul-hunting franchise we could be in for a global expansion with teams of Ghostbusters popping up all around the world.

Related: Ghostbusters news, review and interviews.

With original Ghostbuster, Dan Aykroyd, blasting the 2016 all female led reimagining’s director Paul Feig on Channel 4’s The Sunday Brunch last week, Reitman has come back in an interview with Super News Live on a more positive note with an idea of a direction he would like to franchise to take.

“What we’ve been doing a lot of is thinking about the franchise rights for ‘Ghostbusters.’ Because ‘Ghostbusters,’ that idea doesn’t have to just take place in New York, it can happen over the world.

I think it would be really cool to see Korean ghosts or Chinese ghosts. All those great traditions in the world have all these tales and things those people are afraid of. To have a sort of local group of Ghostbusters that tie with the head office in New York would be fun.”

At this stage, his global expansion is only an idea but it could gather momentum with the head honchos at Sony Pictures on diversity grounds, from an all-female cast to maybe an all-Asian cast with a rich and refreshing storyline of mythical creatures could be just what is needed.

Ghostbusters futureReitman also confirmed that the franchise is still alive and kicking and not dead in the water as previous reports have hinted at. Work is being undertaken to develop a story that connects the two timelines, a storyline that was somewhat lacking in last year’s version.

“We’re doing a lot of work about where do we go next with ‘Ghostbusters.’ I think one thing that fans have clearly wanted, and so did I, that somehow we tie the worlds together. I think it was a little awkward that it wasn’t connected, and we certainly heard a lot from everybody out there. So I would definitely want to connect to all of that.”

Whatever happens in the next step of keeping the Ghostbusters franchise alive – the world will be closely watching.