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.