Is ‘Ghostbusters 3′ doomed?
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.