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Tag: Ivan Reitman

  • Dan Aykroyd Wants To Create Ghostbusters Universe

    Dan Aykroyd recently revealed that he wants to extend the Ghostbusters franchise beyond another sequel.

    Aykroyd, one of the brains behind the third installation of the series, said that he hopes to branch out the series, possibly even taking the ghost fighting men back to their younger years.

    “It’s beyond just another sequel, a prequel, another TV show. I’m thinking what does the whole brand mean to Sony?” he told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “[The franchise has the potential to be] not just another movie or another TV show, but what’s the totality of it? The whole mythology from the beginning of their lives, the end of their lives. Ghostbusters at nine years old, Ghostbusters in high school.”

    There is currently no talk about the Ghostbusters universe that Aykroyd is suggesting, however the third movie is moving forward.

    Ivan Reitman, the director of the first two films and the producer of the third, recently revealed in an interview for Toronto Life that the writers are currently working on the script.

    “The studio is in, and we have writers working on it as we speak,” Reitman said when he was asked about the much anticipated sequel. “We’re ­hoping to film at the beginning of next year. Dan Aykroyd and I meet about once a month to talk about it.”

    Bill Murray has so far refused to commit to reprising his role, however Reitman says that he believes Murray will come around. “He’s [Murray] publicly said no, but Bill and I have done six movies together, and he never says yes until literally just before the shoot,” Reitman said of Murray.

    “Two TIFFs ago, we had a late dinner at Sotto Sotto, and we ate and talked until 4:30 in the morning. I told him, ‘I don’t care if you do ­Ghostbusters—I mean, I’d love it if you did—but why aren’t you doing leading parts for big studio films?’ He said he didn’t want that responsibility. He wanted to be a character actor.”

  • Ghostbusters 3 Is Currently In The Works

    Ghostbusters 3 Is Currently In The Works

    In an article published in the Toronto Life, director Ivan Reitman revealed that the film Ghost Busters 3 is currently in the works.

    Reitman directed the first two Ghostbusters films with actors Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, but explained that he would only be producing the third.

    “The studio is in, and we have writers working on it as we speak,” Reitman said when he was asked about the much anticipated sequel. “We’re ­hoping to film at the beginning of next year. Dan Aykroyd and I meet about once a month to talk about it.”

    After Ramis’ untimely death, and Murray publicly saying that he would not reprise his role, fans are wondering if the third installment of the series would meet expectations.

    “He’s [Murray] publicly said no, but Bill and I have done six movies together, and he never says yes until literally just before the shoot,” Reitman said of Murray. “Two TIFFs ago, we had a late dinner at Sotto Sotto, and we ate and talked until 4:30 in the morning. I told him, ‘I don’t care if you do ­Ghostbusters—I mean, I’d love it if you did—but why aren’t you doing leading parts for big studio films?’ He said he didn’t want that responsibility. He wanted to be a character actor.”

    Aykroyd, the film’s creator, announced in July 2014 that production on the film would start in 2015. “It looks like we’ll be in pre-production in the spring now, from what I’m hearing,” he said at the time.

  • ‘Ghostbusters 3’ to Film in 2015 with Different Director

    News broke Wednesday that Ivan Reitman dropped out of directing Ghostbusters 3 in the wake of the recent death of original Ghostbuster Harold Remis, but filming of the Sony-produced sequel is still scheduled for early 2015.

    Reitman will instead help Amy Pacal of Sony Pictures Entertainment find a replacement director, saying that he was pleased with Etan Cohen’s script. Reitman agreed to work on the film as a producer, but expressed he is not up for helming the project after the loss of Remis last month.

    “Harold got sick about three years ago, and we kept hoping he would get better. I kept pushing forward on the Etan Cohen and we now have a draft that is very good, that the studio is very excited about,” Reitman said.

    “When I came back from Harold’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I just finally met with Amy and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I’d been thinking about it for weeks, that I’d rather just produce this Ghostbusters. I told them I thought I could help but let’s find a really good director and make it with him. So that’s what we’ve agreed will happen. I didn’t want all kinds of speculation about what happened with me, that is the real story,” continued Reitman.

    Ramis died at the age of 69 in his home in Chicago on Feb. 24 from complications related to auto-immune inflammatory vasculitis, which he had battled for four years.

    Ramis’ Ghostbusters 1 and 2 co-writer and co-star Dan Aykroyd previously said that the third film in the franchise sees the original Ghostbusters team recruit a gang of younger scientists, in order to restart the poltergeist-catching business and keep it going for the future.

    Reitman noted that Aykroyd is on board with the project, but it is not clear whether or not Bill Murray has agreed to appear in the third installment in Ghostbusters 3.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • “Ghostbusters 3” Still Happening, But Is Delayed

    “Ghostbusters 3” has been in talks for a while now, and fans have been both anticipating and dreading the new installment for years. With the tragic loss of Harold Ramis earlier this year came the news that the film would probably never see the light of day, but Ivan Reitman–who directed the first two films–says it’s still on. It just won’t be helmed by him.

    “The first [script] was done by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and me, Harold and Dan [Aykroyd] helped them on it,” he said. “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.”

    But the film holds a special significance for Reitman–not to mention memories–and so he will reportedly stay on as a producer.

    “It’s a version of Ghostbusters that has the originals in a very minor role,” he said. “When I came back from Harold’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I’d just finished directing Draft Day, which I’m really happy with and proud of. Working on a film that is smaller and more dramatic was so much fun and satisfying. I just finally met with Amy and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I’d been thinking about it for weeks, that I’d rather just produce this Ghostbusters. I told them I thought I could help but let’s find a really good director and make it with him. So that’s what we’ve agreed will happen. I didn’t want all kinds of speculation about what happened with me, that is the real story.”

    The premise of the film is rumored to be centered on the Ghostbusters handing over their business to a younger generation, but now only Dan Akroyd is involved out of the original members (although Rick Moranis may make a cameo appearance). Now that Reitman has dropped out as director, however, and with the death of key member Ramis, the film has been delayed with no release date in sight.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Ghostbusters 3: Reitman Leaves, New Director Needed

    It was tragic enough losing former Ghostbuster Harold Ramis last month to complications from an infection, but now Ivan Reitman has announced that he will no longer be directing Ghostbusters 3. Understandably, he just doesn’t feel up to it (though he will stay on as producer).

    “When I came back from Harold’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things,” Reitman told Deadline.

    So where does that leave the next film, which Reitman promises is still happening?

    We do know that the recent script is written by Etan Cohan – and, interestingly enough, one that doesn’t need the cast of the first two original films. That works out since Bill Murray, a staple to Ghostbusters fame, never really wanted to do another one in the first place.

    “The first [script] was done by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and me, Harold and Dan [Aykroyd] helped them on it,” Reitman said. “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.”

    Reitman added, “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…It’s a version of Ghostbusters that has the originals in a very minor role.”

    Along with Murray, Ernie Hudson is also not interested in the new film. That leaves Dan Aykroyd, who has always been enthusiastic about another. But pairing him with newer, younger actors taking on the famous pop-culture roles? That’s up to Sony to make that work. But this isn’t their first rodeo.

    In the past, Sony has been known for revamping old franchises such as James Bond, and Spider-Man.

    Meanwhile, Reitman is helping Sony “find a really good director.”

    “I’m not going to say how many Ghostbusters there will be in the new cast, but we are determined to retain the spirit of the original film, and I am pleased that all of this seems to have happened organically,” Reitman said.

    Once the director and cast are lined up, shooting for Ghostbusters 3 will begin in early 2015.


    Image via Wikimedia Commons