Last month, things started to look bleak for ‘Ghostbusters 3’… Again. A few weeks after director Ivan Reitman mentioned that production would begin in summer 2013 for Sony, rumors began to fly about the financial instability of the studio and it’s “rigorous reassessment” of projects in development, including the third film in the franchise that taught generations who to call. Now, it looks as if the sequel’s biggest cheerleader is getting fed up with cheering for a losing team.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Dan Aykroyd basically said that Sony needs to shit or get off the pot when it comes to ‘Ghostbusters 3’ or else he’s moving on. Before getting to that, he goes on about his co-star and friend Bill Murray, who was a huge reason that the sequel has been held up this long. After making it clear that he likes to keep business separate from his friendship with Murray, the former Blues Brother said:
“Well, let me say this: Had Billy chosen to do the Eisenberg/Stupnitsky script of two years ago, it would be out this summer, and it would be a massive hit. If Billy had said yes, it would have satisfied his performance and what he wanted in the movie, it would have satisfied his performing skill and how he wanted to be depicted in the movie, it would have satisfied the studio, the writers who wrote it, everybody… Ivan (Reitman, director), me, Harold (Ramis), we were all happy with it. Then when he said, ‘Absolutely not, I’m not in this,’ we had to go and really rethink things. He abrogated his say in the project, abrogated his rights to have any say in it by refusing the third offer from the picture company, which his lawyer put before him, and Billy said, ‘No, I can’t respond.’ Now we have to move on, but we’ll always leave a hole for him. He’s always there. He can always come back at any time and be rebuilt into it, as far as I’m concerned. That’s up to his lawyer and the picture company to work out, but creatively, he will always be a part of it.”
He goes on to express his frustration with Sony for not green lighting this film yet and how this movie could make them quite a good bit of money, which they supposedly need right now.
“Now, this would add quite a bump to Sony’s bottom line, quite a bump. If they make this movie, in its current shape, they would be looking at a pretty hefty, nine-figure return. So I’m hoping they get on to move it, but if they don’t, I have multiple trains. I’ve got tracks six, seven, and nine, and that’s four. I’ll be moving on to other things, as will Ivan, by the way. We can’t wait forever. And now’s the time to tell the picture company, and I’d say this quite publicly, it’s time now to sit down and make this movie, or you will lose your main principals, and you won’t be able to make it without us, because we have rights, and now is the time to make the movie…You don’t take advantage of that in the next three or four months, I’ll see you in Australia, where we’ll be selling Crystal Head. I’ve worked on every draft in the last three years, as Ivan has, and now we have a story and a draft that everybody seems to agree would make the third movie.”
From the way that the industry veteran speaks about it, ‘Ghostbusters 3’ is ready to go, with or without Bill Murray, but the ball is in the studio’s court. There’s even a fourth movie featuring the Ghostbusters in hell called ‘Man-hell-ttan’ waiting in the wings if ‘Ghostbusters 3’ is a success. Though I’m not exactly sure how well that one would go over, there’s plenty of people who’d like to see the third movie, especially after it’s been talked about for what seems like decades at this point and after the success of Ivan’s son, Jason Reitman’s live reading of the original at LACMA last week featuring Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, and Jack Black.
What do you think about the future of ‘Ghostbusters 3’ after reading all that? Do you think Sony will come to their senses and push the film into production? Or do you see Dan Aykroyd announcing in four months that the project is officially dead? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
