How much money do you have to spend before Bill Murray says "Yes"? That's the question Sony is hoping to eventually find an answer to as development on "Ghostbusters 3" improbably continues in the vain hope the studio can create a blockbuster 23 years after "Ghostbusters II" that will have audiences flocking to theaters. Hell, if they can make people care about "Men In Black 3" a decade after the second movie, anything is possible right?
Well, they've gone ahead and hired one of the (many) writers on the Will Smith flick, tasking Etan Cohen to the Everest-like task of writing "Ghostbusters 3." The movie, which has already been moving in fits and starts since 2008, has already seen "The Office" scribes Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky take a crack at it and have their efforts (rumored to be) shredded. To recap, basically Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman all have veto power over any sequels, which has put a crimp in plans as the notoriously picky Murray (who will randomly choose projects like "Garfield," however) has been the lone holdout. It was only last month while visting "The Late Show With David Letterman" that he lamented they didn't have a good script, and that getting a sequel made was hard to do.
But can Cohen be the guy who gets Murray to show up on set? The writer is probably best known for "Tropic Thunder," and he's got a number of brewing scripts around town (most recently "Boy Scouts Vs. Zombies" whose title speaks for itself). And it should be noted this movie will find the original Ghostbusters passing on the torch to a new generation, so if Cohen can reduce Peter Venkman to a sideplayer who makes a few quips, trains some guys and then disappears, perhaps Murray will be interested enough to strap on the proton pack for one last go.
Clearly, Sony has faith in Cohen to make it happen if they keep pouring development money into this movie, but as we've asked before….does anyone actually care? [Variety]