‘Ghostbusters 3’ moving Forward, Script to be Reworked

Ghostbusters 3I know that it is a little bit too soon to be talking about this, but I’m sure that the story was released because of all of the questions surrounding the topic.  Earlier this year, a whole bunch of new  Ghostbusters  toys were announced, including  Lego Ghostbusters.  I also was having conversations with my wife about something that might be announced at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.  It’s the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters this year, and I thought there was a possibility that Sony would announce that, officially,  Ghostbusters 3 would begin filming, potentially this fall.

Well, not it seems that prediction may not be too far from the truth, as Sony has announced that  Ghostbusters 3 is still on track.  The script needs to be re-worked a little bit, as Ramis was due for a cameo in the film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter:

The sequel’s director,  Ivan Reitman, is scheduled to meet with Sony production brass in the coming days to assess how to move forward on the project, which is in active development, according to sources. Ramis, Murray and  Dan Aykroyd, who starred together in the 1984 original and its 1989 sequel, were poised to appear briefly in the third outing to set up a baton-passing to a trio of newcomers.

There’s something missing from this paragraph, and as a fan of Ghostbusters since childhood, I’ve always found this omission to be glaring. Where is Ernie Hudson’s name here? I mean, I get that he was hired onto the team after half of the first movie was done, but he was also willing to sacrifice his life to save New York. The plan wasn’t even guaranteed to work, and he went for it. Plus, one of my favorite shots, since childhood, was when he shouted “I love this town!” while covered in marshmallow.  Hopefully, that oversight was just this writer, and no relation to the actual intention of the film makers.

The script was originally written by  The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, with revisions by Etan Cohen (Men in Black 3).  A project insider told  The Hollywood Reporter that  “there will be some repercussions.” But the size of those repercussions may not be terribly detrimental to the film.  A studio source downplayed the impact on the project insisting that Ramis was involved in  Ghostbusters III  only minimally, telling THR,  “He was always great to bounce something off of, and that will certainly be missed. But it won’t affect the script.”

They are reporting, though, that even now the script hasn’t progressed enough for the film to even begin shooting in 2014. And now the movie will have to progress without the on-screen presence of Dr. Egon Spengler. It is my hope that they will take the time to honor Harold Ramis in the film, now, in some regard. Perhaps a plaque of some sort in the firehouse, or something similar.

The story is set to be about the original  Ghostbusters  recruiting a few Columbia University students to restart the business, when a new paranormal threat arrives in New York City.

Here are some random thoughts about how the movie could begin. These ideas are my own, and are not official in any way.

The movie could start with a supernatural event, as is typical of the films so far. It’s the hook that brings the  Ghostbusters together. The event happens to be around the same time that the rest of the team has gathered to attend the funeral of Dr. Egon Spengler.  This event, as convenient as it is inconvenient, leads to them re-opening the headquarters.  Perhaps, it’s during the funeral, or after, as they’re walking away, that they look up to the sky over Manhattan, and see something that concerns them, or at least Ray recognizes it immediately. They head back to the firehouse, and begin taking tarps off of things, and Ray does research into the event that they witnessed.  At that point, they realize that they need to recruit some new folks that can take on whatever the threat is.

Either way, I’m excited and hopeful for a third movie, and really want it to be great.

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