Ghostbusters 3 in talks

*Originally published on 9/18/2008



It is truly a good time to be a Ghostbusters fan. With the announcement of a video game to be released on all major next-gen consoles, a wave of Ghostbusters fever has struck. Time Life has attained the rights to "The Real Ghostbusters" and has finally released the whole series in a deluxe dvd set, both movies will be coming to blu-ray, IDW will be releasing a comic and a manga may even be in the works. With all this buzz, I guess it was only natural for Hollywood to try to jump on the bandwagon and bring back the idea of a sequel to get their piece of the pie. Should the movie be made? I wonder.

For one thing, the video game was supposed to act as the third part. The original cast all got together to provide the voices and it was even written by Ramis and Ackroyd. If they release a GB3 then the video game just becomes another forgettable movie tie in game. Even if it is an above average game it will forever be categorized as such when it could be so much more.

No offense to the actors, but of the four, Ernie Hudson is the only one who's aged well. Bill Murray's hair is quite gray and the other two have let themselves go since Ghostbusters 2. But that's fine as the plot will involve them taking a new generation under their wing and mentoring them. I don't think this is the way to go. One of the things that makes Ghostbusters so classic is the characters. More over, the plan is to use actors from the Apatow crew, really? I enjoy those movies, don't get me wrong but I don't think that they're the guys to use for the next Ghostbusters movie. If you do decide to make it Ghostbusters: The Next Generation, I suggest you use the Braxtanfilm guys. I'm in no way affiliated with them, so I'm not in this for my own benefit. I have, however, seen both of their Ghostbusters fan films and know that they can pull it off. In fact, they are the only ones to pull off a "younger Ghostbusters" attempt successfully. If you go this way, it wouldn't be so much, teaching the newbies, but the already established younger characters needing the assistance of the old guard to take on a new threat that they can't handle (Samhain maybe?).

The ideal way to go, in my humble opinion of course, is to use a story that focuses on the original four. Live action may not be a feasible option but animation sure is. You can go with the traditional 2-D animation and make it a "Real Ghostbusters" movie. Many of us grew up watching that and would be delighted to see it come to the big screen. Murray, Hudson, Ramis, and Ackroyd can lend their voices and with the advances in animation you could put out a Real Ghostbusters movie worthy of the big screen. CGI is also an option. You can pull off more special effects wise if you went full CGI/ Motion Capture and make a more daring story. TMNT did this with some success so it would not be without precedent. As long as you don't aim it solely at kids, rather making something mature and well written that kids too can enjoy, you will be fine. It worked for both the early seasons of "The Real Ghostbusters" and with the DC animated universe. Speaking of which, along with Ramis and Ackroyd, you should hire J. Michael Straczynski as the episodes he wrote prove, he understood what went into making a good Ghostbusters story.

If I had to choose between the game and the movie I would choose the game. While I enjoyed Ghostbusters 2, many found it flawed and an inferior sequel. You need to be careful with this one. A lot of us grew up and fell in love with this franchise. Don't just put out something, stamp the Ghostbusters name on it and expect us to be happy. Like Timm and crew did with Batman, and like Favreau did with Iron Man, you need to craft this with the utmost care and precision. If you do that, I can get behind and support this.