Ghostbusters 3 News

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.

Bill Murray was recently interviewed by the British newspaper Mail on Sunday, and he briefly touched on Ghostbusters 3. He said that he told the producers of the movie that he would only appear in it if he could be a ghost, and apparently they agreed. He’ll supposedly get killed off in the first five minutes.

We don’t know if he meant that, or if he was just joking. But it seems there may be something to it, because he has said something similar before. And Sigourney Weaver suggested to MTV that Murray might appear as a sort of Slimer character.

Well, time will show. As long as he doesn’t appear as Yoda, everything will be okay.

We have learned quite a lot of things about Ghostbusters 3 in the last couple of months. Both the actors, producers, visual effects experts, and the director himself, Ivan Reitman, have given many hints about the movie.

Here is what we know so far:

- Most of the original cast may be back.
It seems that both Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, and even Rick Moranis will be reprising their old characters. Ernie Hudson may also appear, according to Aykroyd.
According to Weaver, their roles may be smaller than before, but they will still be on screen.

- It will be in 3D.
An anonymous source at Industrial Light and Magic told Market Saw Blog that it will be. After the success of ‘Avatar’, this is not surprising. We are pretty sure that this is true.

- Bill Murray will appear as a ghost.
Well, maybe. It could just be a funny quip from Murray. But he’s given us that same hint a couple of times now.

- Ivan Reitman will be directing.
Not very surprising, but it was still nice to have it confirmed by the man himself.

- The script is finished.
At least, that’s what people say. It should be in its fourth or fifth draft by now, and is/was being worked on by writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky.

- The writers started writing on their own.
According to Reitman, Sony gave writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky the job of writing the script without consulting anyone. Reitman called that approach a “very interesting thing”.

- Michael Cera really wants to be in it.
He keeps bugging Reitman to give him the part of Oscar, the son of the Sigourney Weaver character.

- Shooting will begin this summer.
This is according to Reitman and Ramis.

- It will be released in 2011.
Also according to Reitman and Ramis.

- It is not official yet.
Columbia Pictures/Sony has not confirmed that the movie is actually happening. But they will.

- Ramis and Aykroyd will executive produce it.
Reitman is both director and producer.

- Some plot elements have been leaked, and here they are: The movie will be about a new generation of ghostbusters being trained, learning to use all the technical equipment. They will be both male and female, and the old ‘busters will be their teachers and mentors. There’s a chance that all the new ghostbusters will be hot girls, but that seems far-fetched to us. The cadets will have a leader, probably female, who will likely be the focus of the plot. One of the cadets will be Oscar, Dana Barrett’s kid. And, as noted above, Bill Murray may appear as a ghost.

Not bad, huh? Things appear to be shaping up for what may possibly be the biggest picture of 2011. We can’t wait.