Ghostbusters 3 Will Live On In 2015, But Without Ivan Reitman Directing
The director will now just be a producer.
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts, that’s for sure. But what I’m hesitant/scared/terrified of is a third Ghostbusters movie, which refuses to give up and dive into the ghost trap. But it still exists, and it has lost its most encouraging tie to the original two films: director Ivan Reitman. The filmmaker has officially decided to step away from the project following the death of his friend and longtime collaborator Harold Ramis. Thankfully, he isn’t leaving the franchise completely. And by thankfully, I mean (yawn).
Reitman will be sticking around Sony Pictures and will join Amy Pascal as a producer on the film, assisting her in finding whatever director will take his place. He’s been attached to this project for as many years as it has existed, from the one that Bill Murray refused to do, to the next one that Bill Murray refused to do, and things were looking up in recent years, as Reitman and co-scripter Dan Aykroyd were working with screenwriter Etan Cohen on a semi-reboot with all-new heroes. But while he was hoping that Ramis would get better, that unfortunately didn’t happen and Reitman feels he can’t return to the Ghostbusters universe without him. Citing years of reading Internet rumors about this project, Reitman decided to set the record straight himself in an interview with Deadline.
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 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.
Reitman says that they are currently banging out a list of directors they’ll be approaching in the near future, and that a production start will likely happen in New York early in 2015. (Remember when it was supposed to head to Cleveland?) As far as teasers for the long-gestating sequel, he refuses to divulge how many Ghostbusters there will be, but says they are “determined to retain the spirit of the original film,” and that he is “pleased that all of this seems to have happened organically.”
As organic as, say, slime?
I’m obviously wary as all hell about this movie getting made, but this news just makes it that much harder to get behind. Unless Edgar Wright agrees to make it. Can we get an online petition started?
