UPDATE! Sony Developing a Sequel to ‘Ghostbusters’ Which Will Ignore the 2016 Reboot
Ghostbusters hasn’t exactly had the best time as a film franchise, between a third movie that took decades to never get made, and a reboot that ultimately failed to deliver. Now, word is that a sequel is finally happening, although it’s not clear if any of the original cast will be involved in this one.
Entertainment Weekly has revealed that Jason Reitman, director of films such as Juno and Up in the Air and the son of Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters 2 director Ivan Reitman, is set to direct a sequel to his father’s stories. Reitman has written a script with Gil Kenan, but what the story entails is not clear at this time. Reitman’s father will be producing the film as a way of passing the torch. Filming will begin in a few months for a projected Summer 2020 release window.
The film will treat the 2016 movie as its own self-contained universe (that will promptly be ignored) and will focus solely on showing what a world that knows that ghosts exists is like decades after Venkman, Stantz, Spengler, and Zeddermore saved New York City twice from paranormal mass hysteria. Beyond that, details on the plot are pretty light.
In addition to the new live-action film, an animated movie from Sony Pictures Animation is also in development. It will involve a completely different creative team, and it seems like the people behind the franchise are still raring to explore a multiverse of possibilities in spite of the 2016 film floundering at the box office.
At this point in time, it’s worth asking: does this movie have the potential to rekindle a franchise, or is it a case of an idea being too little and too late? Sony had a window to make a Ghostbusters 3 with the original cast, but they ultimately didn’t take that opportunity before the unfortunate passing of Harold Ramis. Following this, they developed a total reboot, but did so with a lame-duck script that failed to capture the magic the original film had and fostered an incredibly divisive dialogue about the film, ultimately creating a box office blunder.
While the decision to hire Ghostbusters co-creator Ivan Reitman’s son as the director of the project is one that’s bound to generate good will toward it, the distaste that fans have against Sony for mismanaging the IP for decades could end up hurting this movie’s financial numbers in the long run. But there’s plenty of time between now and when this new old-fashioned take on the franchise, and if Sony is able to properly sell this movie as a true successor to the previous two, then we might just see a dead movie franchise come back to life.
UPDATE!
Entertainment Weekly has also revealed a short proof-of-concept teaser. Included within is a look at a barnyard that serves as a makeshift laboratory, the lighting of a proton pack, the return of the original Ecto-1, and an alleged strand of ectoplasm on a neighbor’s fence. It can be viewed below:
The untitled Ghostbusters sequel is planned for a Summer 2020 release window.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
