'Ghostbusters 3' Now Aiming To Shoot Early 2015, Ivan Reitman Won't Direct

Ghostbusters 2 Ivan Reitman

We’ve been here before. At one time rumored for a May 2011 start and then summer 2013, the long developing “Ghostbusters 3” has had a lot of plans that have yet to come to fruition. So, you might be well advised to take this next update with a grain of salt.

Deadline reveals that the sequel is now aiming for an early 2015 shoot, but with one key change: the longtime series helmer Ivan Reitman has stepped down from the director’s chair. So, why did he change his mind? “When I came back from Harold [Ramis]’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I’d just finished directing ‘Draft Day,’ which I’m really happy with and proud of. Working on a film that is smaller and more dramatic was so much fun and satisfying,” he told the trade. “I just finally met with Amy and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I’d been thinking about it for weeks, that I’d rather just produce this ‘Ghostbusters.’ I told them I thought I could help but let’s find a really good director and make it with him. So that’s what we’ve agreed will happen. I didn’t want all kinds of speculation about what happened with me, that is the real story.”

Reitman also cleared up what went down with Bill Murray, who won’t be appearing in the followup, and how the remaining Ghostbusters fit into the new script. “The first was done by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and me, Harold and Dan [Aykroyd] helped them on it,” Reitman explained. “It was a really good script, but then it became clear that Bill really didn’t want to do another ‘Ghostbusters’ and that it was literally impossible to find him to speak to for the year or two we tried to get it going. When Bill finally… well, he never actually said no, but he never said yes, so there was no way to make that film. We decided to start over again, and I started working with Etan Cohen, with Dan lending a helping hand. Harold got sick about three years ago, and we kept hoping he would get better. I kept pushing forward on the Etan Cohen and we now have a draft that is very good, that the studio is very excited about.”

“It’s a version of Ghostbusters that has the originals in a very minor role,” the filmmaker added.

So, they have a script, but now the hunt is on for a director and then finding a cast, with the hope that within twelve months this is greenlit and in production. Nothing is impossible, but given how this movie has developed thus far, we’re not holding our breath.