Jason Reitman will direct and co-write an upcoming film set in the world of the original films from the 1980’s. His father, Ivan Reitman directed the original two ‘Ghostbusters’ films. Jason Reitman co-wrote the screenplay with ‘Monster House’ and ‘Poltergeist’ remake filmmaker Gil Kenan.
However, it’s still too soon to reveal the plot of the screenplay or who the new characters will be. The verdict is still out on whether the original actors like Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, or Bill Murray will return. Sadly, Harold Ramis passed away in 2014.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the main characters will be 4 teens: 2 boys and 2 girls.
Reitman had a lot to say on the project:
“I’ve always thought of myself as the first Ghostbusters fan, when I was a 6-year-old visiting the set. I wanted to make a movie for all the other fans. This is the next chapter in the original franchise. It is not a reboot. What happened in the ‘80s happened in the ‘80s, and this is set in the present day.”
“This is very early, and I want the film to unwrap like a present. We have a lot of wonderful surprises and new characters for the audience to meet.”
The all-female Ghostbusters movie that director Paul Feig made in 2016 with Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig, and Melissa McCarthy started its story from scratch, unconnected to the earlier films, so it won’t have ties to this new one. Reitman commented:
“I have so much respect for what Paul created with those brilliant actresses, and would love to see more stories from them. However, this new movie will follow the trajectory of the original film.”
Reitman grew up idolizing his dad’s big-budget comedies like ‘Stripes,’ ‘Twins,’ and ‘Dave.’ He says he was just as obsessed with ‘Ghostbusters’ as any other ‘80s kid:
“I love everything about it. The iconography. The music. The tone. I remember being on set and seeing them try out the card catalog gag for the first time when the library ghost makes them come flying out.
I remember the day they killed Stay Puft and I brought home a hardened piece of foam that just sat on a shelf for years. I was scared there was a terror dog underneath my bed before people knew what a terror dog was.”
His father will produce the movie:
“It will be a passing of the torch both inside and out. It was a decision he had to come to himself. He worked really hard to be independent and developed a wonderful career on his own. So I was quite surprised when he came to me with Gil and said, ‘I know I’ve been saying for 10 years I’m the last person who should make a Ghostbusters movie, but…I have this idea.’ Literally, I was crying by the end of it, it was so emotional and funny.”
Sony is also developing an animated ‘Ghostbusters’ film, but that will come out after this new live-action project, and a different team will be involved in creating it. His comment on that:
“The Ghostbusters universe is big enough to hold a lot of different stories.”
Jason Reitman is an Oscar-nominee for ‘Up in the Air’ and ‘Juno,’ and he released two films last year. He did the Charlize Theron motherhood story ‘Tully’ and the Hugh Jackman political drama ‘The Front Runner.’
If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now that Reitman is not only passionate, but very qualified for the job.
The whole project has been under a veil of secrecy; the code name it has been operating under has been ‘Rust City.’ This is definitely a project to keep an eye on over the year. If ‘Jumanji 3’ and ‘Bad Boys 3’ are any indication, the cast will be very interesting.
Sony Pictures has dated Reitman’s film for Summer 2020, with plans to start shooting in a few months.
Source: Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter