What do you do when you just can’t pull a third Ghostbusters film together, after over two decades of hard work, script changes, actor deaths, and crazy devotion from Dan Aykroyd? Why, you scrap the whole thing and reboot it, of course!
At least, that’s what it sounds like Sony has decided to do with the beloved property, as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Bridesmaids and The Heat director Paul Feig is being courted by the studio to helm the film, which will no longer just be Ghostbusters 3 but will act as a reboot of the franchise starring an all-female team.
No formal negotiations are in place, but Sony has made an offer and Feig is supposedly interested. Whether or not he’s the best choice for the gig remains to be seen (I’m personally still bummed The LEGO Movie helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller turned it down), but this is certainly a step in the right direction for the film. It not only lost beloved co-star and original franchise co-writer Harold Ramis last year, but Ghostbusters 3 also never re-sparked interest in Bill Murray. Ivan Reitman stepped out of the director’s chair after Ramis’ death, the script immediately went to rewrites, and the vicious cycle started anew. With Feig reportedly the new frontrunner, could the end finally be in sight?
Despite the plethora of production problems and false starts, Ghostbusters 3 has, for better or worse, lived on. Aykroyd seemed confident in an interview last month that filming would begin in the spring of 2015… and with Feig’s name now on the table, he may just be right.
Now that would be a nice change of pace, wouldn’t it?
