Ghostbusters 3 News

Sinister forces are haunting the world of Ghostbusters 3.
Several news outlets are reporting that Ivan Reitman might get ousted from his own franchise. It seems studio Columbia/Sony are eager to get a younger director to make Ghostbusters 3, and are looking for a way to get Reitman off the project. Normally, that would not pose much of a problem for any studio executive, but in this case, it’s a major headache.

The reason is that Reitman’s original contract gives him the right to pull the plug on the entire project. He, along with Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis essentially have veto power over the Ghostbusters franchise, and any one of them can terminate the project. The odds of Reitman using that power if he gets squeezed out are probably pretty high.

The studio is not keen on having such a potential major moneymaker as Ghostbusters 3 sunk by a squabble like this, but it looks like a stalemate. It’s not likely that Reitman will willingly walk away from what could be the most lucrative project of his career.

It might seem as if Ghostbusters 3 is in jeopardy, but there’s no cause for alarm. If we had to guess, we’d say it gets made on schedule, with Reitman as director. It can’t be made without his blessing. And we think he’s earned another go.

Bill Murray called Ghostbusters 3 “a nightmare” when he was a guest on the David Letterman Show recently. His lack of enthusiasm was tangible and remarkable, since this movie has the potential to be his biggest payday ever.

But we think he’s right to be worried that this is just about the money for most of the people involved. Bad sequels or remake of a classic movie are so common that they’re practically cliché – just think of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Actually, don’t think about that movie. Ever.

But does Ghostbusters 3 have to be a nightmare? We think and hope that Aykroyd, Ramis and Reitman, at least, have a certain affection for the franchise, and are inclined to treat it less like a cash cow and more like an opportunity to make a really good movie.

Fine, Ghostbusters 2 was probably not the best movie of all time. Or even of the month. It was made because of the guaranteed profit and little else. But it kept the fans sated at a time when the demand for a new movie after the first one was very strong.

Here are some reasons why Ghostbusters 3 could suck, but doesen’t have to:

The budget.

With a popular franchise as strong as this one, the studio will not put it on a small budget. It will be huge.
Con:

• The studio will expect correspondingly huge profits, and might put pressure on the creators to dumb it down and make it palatable for everyone. Disaster will ensue.

Pro:

• Endless funds will enable the creators to do whatever they want with the movie. It could be spectacular.

The people.

The individuals involved so far are some of the best in the business. Sigourney Weaver, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman all have a LOT of experience.
Cons:

• Most of these probably don’t care about anything but the paycheck.
• They are close enough to the end of their careers to want to make a whole lot of money from Ghostbusters 3 and then retire.

Pros:

• You’d think that they know how to make a movie good.
• They are close enough to the end of their careers not to want to sully their names with a lackluster product.
• They’ve all been in the business for so long that they must have made all the mistakes they had to make by now.

The script.

Cons:

• When was the last time a sequel had a good script?
• Do rent-a-writers ever produce good stuff? The best, most creative scripts usually come from out of the blue.

Pros:

• The franchise needs a fresh take, and it’s probably a good idea that scriptwriters Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg come from the outside.
• Stupnitsky has written for The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Those are intelligent shows with first-rate writing.
• Eisenberg has also written for The Office.
• They are young and have a lot to prove. This could be their big break- they have to give it their all.

The special effects.

Special effects do not a good movie make – witness the last three Star Wars travesties, the Troy travesty, the Indy (oh no, not again) travesty, and so on.
Con:

• Movie studios can be so awestruck by the effects they can get that they forget the actual movie. It has happened many times.

Pros:

• The first Ghostbusters flick was pretty heavy on the effects back in the day – it’s one of the things that made it cool.
• A Ghostbusters movie does need effects.
• Talented and experienced people will be able to use effects as an integral part of the plot, not a showcase of what can be done technically (we’re looking at you, George Lucas).

Ghostbusters 3 could come out sucking in 2011. But we think there’s good hope that it won’t.

This is as speculative as rumors get about Ghostbusters 3, but we think it’s interesting enough to convey it to you. According to Hollywoodspy.com, Eliza Dushu let slip that she might star in Ghostbusters 3, because she’s a friend of Dan Aykroyd, and he really wants her to be a part of the project.

“I don’t know anything, I don’t have a script—it’s still a rumor thing right now,” Dushku said. “But I would be excited to do it! Dan is a friend since I was young, and I love [original star Sigourney Weaver] and would love to zip on a proton pack!”

Okay, we can easily see Eliza as a ghostbusteress. But surely the proton packs come in the shape of iPod apps by now?

We kind of hope that this pans out. But we’ll see.