Audiences remain divided on the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters – directed by Paul Feig, and starring an entirely female team. Those divisions do not seem to have dampened enthusiasm for the property – for either fans or the studio – however, as producer Ivan Reitman recently detailed plans for the future of the franchise.
Addressing an assembled crowd at the IDW comic panel at San Diego Comic-Con recently, the man behind the original Ghostbusters movies provided some details on the animated film that’s currently in development.
“I think we have wonderful plans, both for an animated feature that we’re deep in design on already and a really great story. That’s going to surprise everybody, I think, when it comes out. And we’re dealing with Ghost World quite a lot. We’re looking at the film from a ghost point-of-view, and the Ghostbusters from a ghost point-of-view. I think that would be something very interesting for you.”
A Ghostbusters story told from the perspective of the ghosts is a fantastic idea, and modern animation techniques mean the possibilities for such a tale are essentially endless. Additionally, it seems that these ideas are heavily inspired by the IDW comics series Ghostbusters 101, by Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening – which has also lent itself to the development of a second, future Ghostbusters project, also teased by Reitman.
“And of course a new live-action film.”
This has surprised many, because there’s been much commentary from the original creators of Ghostbusters – most notably Dan Aykroyd – that’s created the impression that the live-action part of the franchise basically died a death after the 2016 Paul Feig movie. But clearly, this is not the case at all.
Firstly, that film has a vast fanbase and secondly, Ivan Reitman is still happy to charge full-steam ahead with another live-action instalment – and in fact has some interesting, comic book inspired ideas geared toward more fan satisfaction.
“It was clear a lot people were disappointed that the original Ghostbusters – this world we worked very hard to set up way back in 1984 – didn’t seem to be part of this new movie… I thought if there was a way, particularly in future films we’re working on, to bring them all together, it would be much more satisfying, and much more fun to say… I thought that one of the great places to try it out was through these wonderful comics.”
The comic book in question features inter-dimensional travel, allowing different generations of Ghostbusters to interact – which sounds like an intriguing idea to explore in a live-action blockbuster movie. But when might we see one of these movies actually arrive? The 35th anniversary of the first Ghostbusters is in 2019 and, according to Reitman, “the studio is going to try to tie in one of the new films close to that date.”
Whether that 2019 release turns out to be the animated Ghostbusters movie, or the live-action instalment, one thing is abundantly clear – busting still makes us feel good.
