Despite the death of original Ghostbuster Harold Ramis, Sony Pictures are moving full steam ahead with a third instalment of the franchise. However, they’ll have to do it without Ivan Reitman as he has now decided not to helm the film, although he will help Amy Pascal find a new director.
This news comes as a pretty major surprise as Reitman has been attached to Ghostbusters III for almost as long as people have been talking about the possibility of them releasing another movie. Talking to Deadline, Reitman explained why he’s decided to now walk away from the project:
“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 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.”
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.”
As for what direction Ghostbusters III will take, Reitman confirmed that the original Ghostbusters will have a “very minor role”, perhaps indicating that this will be more reboot than sequel. The report goes on to confirm that shooting is expected to begin in early 2015, and they’re currently compiling a list of possible directors.
Reitman finished by refusing to reveal how many Ghostbusters will make up the new cast, but did add that, “We are determined to retain the spirit of the original film, and I am pleased that all of this seems to have happened organically.” How do you guys feel about what they have planned for the franchise?
