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Original 'Ghostbusters' Is Being Resuscitated By Director Jason Reitman

Ben Yakas

Published Jan 16, 2019

Modified Jan 17, 2019

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Some of the original cast of 'Ghostbusters,' including Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts, alongside associate producer Joe Medjuck

Images excerpted from Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History by Daniel Wallace. Used with permission of Insight Editions.

Ben Yakas

Published Jan 16, 2019

Modified Jan 17, 2019

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After Paul Feig's 2016 bizarrely controversial all-female Ghostbusters reboot was met by audiences with what could charitably be called Extremely Strong Opinions (and lukewarm box office numbers), it seemed to signal the end to this all-new reimagining of the franchise. But what seems dead may really be undead: we will be getting another new Ghostbusters movie, this time set in the original universe, directed by Jason Reitman—a.k.a., original director Ivan Reitman's son.

EW broke the news that Reitman will direct and has co-written the upcoming film, which unlike Feig's film will be set in the same world that was saved decades previously in the first two Ghostbusters films. It has a tentative release date of summer 2020.

Check out a teaser trailer below:

"I’ve always thought of myself as the first Ghostbusters fan, when I was a 6-year-old visiting the set. I wanted to make a movie for all the other fans," Reitman said. "This is the next chapter in the original franchise. It is not a reboot. What happened in the ‘80s happened in the ‘80s, and this is set in the present day."

Unlike with the previous attempt to bring back the franchise, which was mired in behind-the-scenes drama and starts/stops (some of which were caused because star Bill Murray hated all the possible Ghostbusters 3 scripts and refused to participate), Reitman has apparently already written the screenplay with Monster House and Poltergeist remake filmmaker Gil Kenan.

Reitman, who had previously poo-pooed the idea of helming any sort of reboot or sequel to the beloved franchise, seems to be embracing his familial connection to it now. "I love everything about it. The iconography. The music. The tone," Reitman said. "I remember being on set and seeing them try out the card catalog gag for the first time when the library ghost makes them come flying out. I remember the day they killed Stay Puft and I brought home a hardened piece of foam that just sat on a shelf for years. I was scared there was a terror dog underneath my bed before people knew what a terror dog was."

His father Ivan Reitman, who will produce the movie, called it "a passing of the torch both inside and out," and added that his son's take on the material "was so emotional and funny."

After having several big hits early in his career (with Thank You For Smoking and Up In The Air in particular), the younger Reitman's career has careened between critically-loathed box office bombs (Labor Day, Men, Women & Children) and flawed-but-fascinating box office bombs (Young Adult, Tully). He's never taken on a franchise movie like this before, though he obviously has deep ties to the original.

So now the whole Ghostbusters guessing game begins anew: will any of the living original actors (Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts) make a cameo as their characters, will this finally be the project that gets Rick Moranis out of retirement? Will they film the movie in NYC or Boston? How long until Upper West Siders start kvetching about filming? And dear God, can they get someone better than Fall Out Boy to do the theme song?

While I feel somewhat skeptical about the studios bringing back this franchise yet again, I relish any opportunity to recirculate my favorite Ghostbusters-themed content: the story behind the infamous ghost blowjob scene in the original film.

Tagged

failing upward

film

franchises that refuse to die

ghostbusters

jason reitman

movies

nepotism

obligatory bill murray cameos dot com

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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