Ghostbusters 3 Director Says It’s A Love Letter To The Original

Ghostbusters 3 is set to start production as early as next month, and thanks to a new interview with writer-director Jason Reitman, we now have a better idea as to what the film’s going to be about.

Speaking at Ghostbusters Fan Fest over the weekend, Reitman professed his love for the franchise and how it shaped the concept for his modern sequel:

“Going into making this film, we wanted to make a love letter to the original movie. I thought I was going to be this indie dude who makes Sundance movies, and then this character came to me. And she was a 12-year-old girl. I didn’t know who she was, or why she popped into my head, but I saw her with a proton pack and this story began to form. And it formed over many years, actually. It started with a girl, and all of a sudden it was a family.”

The concept of “family” as a through line for the new Ghostbusters film is actually an interesting yet completely appropriate choice for Reitman, as his father Ivan directed the 1984 original and its 1989 sequel.

The threequel is set to star Captain Marvel’s Mckenna Grace as a young pre-teen paranormal investigator who’s joined by her mother (Avengers: Infinity War’s Carrie Coon) and brother (Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard) in eventually picking up the phone and bustin’ some ghosts.

It’s interesting to note that Reitman says his idea for the movie has been developing over many years though, considering that Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot just came out in 2016. The film was expected to kick off a whole new wave of sequels starring Kate McKinnon and Melissa McCarthy, but middling box office returns and online trolling controversy kept Sony from moving further in that direction.

Instead, Reitman and co. shocked the world with a surprise teaser trailer paired with the announcement that a Ghostbusters 3, set in the main continuity of the earlier ‘80s films, was actually happening. This weekend also came the news that Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, and Dan Aykroyd would be returning as their original characters as well, having read and seemingly approved of the script.

While this all sounds like a dream come true for fans, we’re going to have to wait a little bit to actually see if it all pans out, as Ghostbusters 3 won’t hit theaters until July 10th, 2020. Fingers crossed, though.