Ivan Reitman on Why He Isn't Directing GHOSTBUSTERS 3
It sounds like Ghostbusters 3 is eventually going to happen. It's been a hell of a long road to get to this point, and so much has happened over the years while trying to bring it to the big screen. Shortly after the passing of Harold Ramis, Ivan Reitman stepped down as the director of the film, but stayed on board as a producer. During an interview with SuperHeroHype, Reitman explained why he will not be directing the picture, saying:
“I am very involved. I’m a producer of the film. I wasn’t giving it all up. I suddenly felt that Ghostbusters didn’t necessarily need me as a director, at least I didn’t need to direct Ghostbusters, let me put it that way. Having done the other two and with the passing of Harold and with Bill Murray seeming disinterested being in it, I thought it was better for me just to produce it and to make sure we’re going to have the quality and style of what is appropriate for another version of that film. But the franchise could benefit from somebody else’s point of view. I’ve done it twice before and it will be great to get somebody else to lend a hand as well.”
Earlier in the year, Deadline posted an extensive interview with Reitman, and in it he discussed the long development of Ghostbusters 3, and what led them to where they are today in the process.
"The first [script] was done by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and me, Harold [Ramis] and Dan [Aykroyd] helped them on it. It was a really good script, but then it became clear that Bill really didn’t want to do another Ghostbusters and that it was literally impossible to find him to speak to for the year or two we tried to get it going. When Bill finally…well, he never actually said no, but he never said yes, so there was no way to make that film. We decided to start over again, and I started working with Etan Cohen, with Dan lending a helping hand. Harold got sick about three years ago, and we kept hoping he would get better. I kept pushing forward on the Etan Cohen [script] and we now have a draft that is very good, that the studio is very excited about."
I'm really curious to know what that first script entailed. It's sad that Murray wouldn't come back for the third movie, but I hope that whatever they're developing now will end up being solid. The most recent rumor indicates that the story will include an all female cast, and that Sony was looking to hire Bridesmaids helmer Paul Feig to bring it to life.