Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Ghostbusters 3
10/6/08 – SCIFI Wire reported that Bill Murray was open to reprising his Ghostbusters role of Dr. Peter Venkman in a proposed third movie.  Murray--who voiced Venkman in the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game--added that he's aware that Columbia Pictures just last month tapped Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (NBC's The Office) to write a second sequel.  "There's two fellows from The Office that are writing a script, but I've yet to see it," Murray said while promoting his upcoming family fantasy movie, City of Ember. "And I'm more involved with, you know, trying to get the dessert we ordered at lunch than I am with the new Ghostbusters sequel. But it's possible. It's a great idea that they hired these two guys to do it, because I think it'll be a ... it could be a fresh look at it. And it could be funny."  The original Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and is widely considered a comedy classic. The first sequel, Ghostbusters II, opened in 1989 and wasn't nearly as successful financially or critically.

9/8/08 - Harold Ramis, one of the original creators of Ghostbusters, wrote the Chicago Tribune to confirm details about a proposed third film.  "Yes, Columbia is developing a script for GB3 with my Year One writing partners, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg," Ramis e-mailed the newspaper. "Judd Apatow is co-producing Year One and has made several other films for Sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent."  Ramis added that he and his Ghostbusters collaborators Dan Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman "are consulting at this point, and, according to Dan, Bill Murray is willing to be involved on some level. He did record his dialogue for the new Ghostbusters video game, as did Danny and I and Ernie Hudson."  As for their possible role in a third movie? "The concept is that the old Ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity. Not much else to say at this point. Everyone is confident a decent script can be written, and I guess we'll take it from there."

9/5/08 - Columbia Pictures is setting up a new installment of its blockbuster Ghostbusters film franchise, hiring The Office co-executive producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky to write a script, Variety reported.  The intent is to reunite the original cast of Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.  The studio would not comment on the development and has been mum on recent rumors that there was interest in making another installment of the franchise.  The writers just wrote Year One, a comedy that was directed by Ramis. Ramis with Aykroyd wrote the first two Ghostbusters movies.  No deals will be made with the original cast until the script is ready.

AlienAlmanac.com 2008