‘Ghostbusters’ might be getting a reboot and a spinoff instead of a third movie but that hasn’t stopped Max Landis from writing a script to endcap the original trilogy. Initally, there were rumors going around that he had written a script in the past but that was quickly shot down by Landis himself. However, with the excitement fans praised upon it, he decided that it would be a good writing exercise to actually sit down and scribe one. It was never meant to be a pitch but more of a writing exercise and most likely to encourage his fans.
So what did he decide to do with this script that will never see the light of day on the big screen? Share it with fans online of course!
You can read the entire Max Landis script right here though if you are on the fence we have some teasers to share with you.
The introduction actually throws us back in time a little which gives us a great way to tie together the original film and what would have been the last film of the trilogy:
We start in the 1920s, where we witness cult leader Ivo Shandor proclaim the prophecy of the two comings of Gozer, one a failure, and the second thirty years later, to destroy the world. One of his followers speaks out, and is killed for his insubordination…becoming the spirit who is eventually known to us as Slimer.
So that not only explains who Slimer was but also gives us a reason for Gozer to be back!
Slam to 2016.
Ahh the present. Things must be going well for the Ghostbusters as they now are a national brand, right? Well…
Ghostbusters was a national franchise, privately owned and government subsidized. But the lack of extradimensional invaders meant that there was ultimately a very limited amount of ghosts to bust, and the very optimistic national expansion slowly depleted the Buster’s funds (“Did the Atlanta chapter really need a helicopter?”). The Ghostbusters remain iconic, but despite the merchandise, cartoon show, etc, the company itself is bankrupt, on the verge of collapse.
Only two houses remain open; there hasn’t been a legitimate call in more than ten years. The original Busters are for the most part long gone; Venkman took the money and disappeared into seclusion, Winston Zeddemore quit the busters in 1991 and has since become a Richard Branson style billionaire, and Egon Spengler accidentally ascended to a higher plane of existence, leaving only the increasingly delusional Ray Stantz, who has run the company into the ground.
The New York Team is now comprised of Ted Becker, an earnest sweetheart living a dream born as he watched the Busters defeat Gozer as a little boy in 1985, Veronica Spengler, Egon’s Very Egon-Like daughter who feels in turns respectful and resentful of the hole left in her world, Brian Quaid, a fast talking breezily confident self-proclaimed psychic with a chip on his shoulder, and Irwin Oberstein, a gearhead MIT kick-out metalhead who sees the Ghostbusters as the ultimate way to explore his punk rock ideas about quantum physics.
Landis comments and states that this screenplay mixes in his “own beliefs about trilogies. It is a completion of the cycle and themes started in the first film, updated for modern film standards. As such, it features a heightening of the first film’s threat, as well as multiple action sequences, and deeper emotional through-lines for the characters.” Also that he “never pitched this. It is essentially just fan fiction. Please judge it accordingly; I released it to an overwhelming amount of requests, and also just because I like sharing this stuff. I hope you enjoy.”
The director/writer also had in mind who he’d like to star in his ‘Ghostbusters 3’ film which he shared on Twitter:
Becker: @sethrogen Spengler: @jennyslate Oberstein: @kumailn Quaid: @joelmchale Dante: @DustinWMilligan Reiser: Jon Hamm
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) March 25, 2015
LA Team: Edmunds: @glennhowerton Starr: Randall Park Cruise: @oliviamunn
— Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) March 25, 2015
The casting sounds fun but honestly it is the story that has my attention. I think this could have been an interesting plot. Oh well. All we have to look forward to is the ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot.
Would you have preferred that the ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise continued as planned, had stayed ended, or had this as the plot for the end cap of a trilogy? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Slash Film