Saturday, June 20

• Will Ghostbusters Video Game Revive Film Franchise?

  It's been 25 years since "Who ya gonna call?" became a national catchphrase and 20 years since the bland sequel to Ghostbusters all but ended the franchise. Over the years, there has been sporadic talk about reviving the franchise, but the principals could never agree to terms and the franchise languished. Now, the possibility of a third film about New York City's favorite paranormal investigators seems a possibility, thanks to an unlikely impetus: the Ghostbusters video game.

  A couple of weeks ago, Harold Ramis, who co-wrote and starred in the first two Ghostbusters films, said he had written a story for a third film that The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were adapting into a screenplay. Now, with the Ghostbusters video game becoming the top-selling Xbox 360 game and second best-selling Playstation 3 game on Amazon.com, there is even more talk about the film franchise. As reported in Variety, Mark Caplan, VP of licensing at Sony Pictures said:

  For now, we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The game and the Blu-ray (release) will have a big impact on all of us. And we'll decide what to do from there.

  The Ghostbusters video game script, co-written by Dan Aykroyd and Ramis, contains more than 10,000 lines of dialgogue and features the voices of principal actors Ramis, Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis declined to participate for unspecified reasons.

  
  

  Posted 06/20/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Bill Murray | Dan Aykroyd | Ernie Hudson | Harold Ramis | Rick Moranis | Sigourney Weaver | Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters III

Tuesday, June 9

• Harold Ramis Talks About Ghostbusters III

  

  It's been 25 years since the birth of the Ghostbusters franchise and the original creative team is working on a new flick. In a telephone interview yesterday, Comingsoon.net talked to writer/director Harold Ramis (Year One, Analyze This, Groundhog Day) and received some info on the upcoming Ghostbusters III.

  Ramis and Dan Aykroyd wrote the scripts for the first two movies and both starred with Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver. Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who are regular writers for The Office, are developing a first draft of the script and Ramis says he's optimistic that the new movie will feature most of the original cast:

  I wrote the story for the new movie with [Eisenberg and Stupnitsky], and Dan [Aykroyd] and I've been consulting. We're just waiting to see a first draft and where we are ... Everyone says they'll do it; they've all said they'll do it. No one has signed anything yet--we haven't signed anything either--but there's the spirit of willingness in the air.

  Ramis also talked about whether he or original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman will helm the new movie:

  I don't think he wants to; I'm not sure I want to. It's just a lot of open questions. Until we see a script, I don't think anyone really knows how they feel about it. Everyone's open to doing it, that's the main thing, that's what got it moving forward.

  .

  In addition, Ramis said that there will be a younger team of Ghostbusters this time around, with the original characters acting more as mentors.

  Ghostbusters III is currently scheduled for release sometime in 2012.

  
  

  Posted 06/09/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Bill Murray | Dan Aykroyd | Ernie Hudson | Harold Ramis | Ivan Reitman | Sigourney Weaver | Gene Stupnitsky | Lee Eisenberg | Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters II | Ghostbusters III

Friday, September 5

• Who Ya Gonna Call (Again)?
  

  Another Ghostbusters sequel has been rumored ever since Ghostbusters II was released 19 years ago, in 1989. Like so many other franchises -- from Back to the Future to Indiana Jones -- stories have popped up over the years, only to be squashed or forgotten in time. At one point a new Ghostbusters cast was discussed, to be headed by Will Smith. It, too, fell by the way side.

  But today, according to Variety, Columbia Pictures has finally made the first concrete move towards a Ghostbusters III -- hiring Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, co-executive producers on TV's The Office, to write the script. The duo recently wrote Year One, directed by Ghostbuster Harold Ramis.

  Unlike other Ghostbuster sequels, which talked of a partial original cast or all-new actors, the plan here is to reunite original castmembers Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson.

  For now, no deals are signed other than the script. The actors won't be committing until they've read the script, but considering the high quality of the continually funny The Office, hopes are high.

  Ray Parker, Jr. -- time for a comeback!

  Source: Variety

  
  

  Posted 09/05/2008 by reelz

  Related: Bill Murray | Dan Aykroyd | Ernie Hudson | Harold Ramis | Ray Parker Jr. | Ghostbusters III | Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters II