Ivan Reitman Suggests Ghostbusters Should Be Remade, Says Twins Sequel Is Just A Press Release

Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis make a plan in the streets in Ghostbusters.
(Image credit: Columbia PIctures)

No matter how many times we hear about it, no matter how many updates we get from the cast and crew, I truly believe that we will never see a Ghostbusters 3. While we've been hearing rumors about the project for years, it's never been able to get beyond the script stage, yet people keep asking the filmmakers and actors about it, and they seem to insist that we will someday see a sequel.

The latest news comes from Collider who recently had a chance to interview director Ivan Reitman and asked what the latest news is with the project. In July Men in Black III writer Etan Cohen was hired to draft a new screenplay for the film - replacing the one written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky - and from Reitman's comments it sounds like they are going in a different direction from what they originally planned, which was to have the older Ghostbusters pass on their legacy to a younger generation.

Said Reitman "Well, I’d like to go forward and make new things. I think Ghostbusters probably should be remade, if we can get it all right. We’re working on it, so we’ll see." What's not clear is if what they're now working on is a literal remake of the 1984 classic, or simply starting from scratch with the new sequel.

But that's not the only sequel that Reitman has in the works. In March reports surfaced that the filmmaker was developing a sequel to the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny Devito comedy Twins called Triplets and it was said that Eddie Murphy would be playing the third brother. So is there any truth to that rumor? "With Triplets, I’m quite nervous about it," the director said said. "I think it’s somebody’s commercial idea, and usually that’s a scary thought. There’s no writer, and there’s no idea yet. I think that was more of a press release than anything else."

So what do we take away from this? It looks like Triplets hasn't budged an inch since March and the development of Ghostbusters III seems like its in the exact place it was back in 2009 (with the exception being that Dan Aykroyd has admitted Bill Murray has no interest in reprising his role as Peter Venkman). Good thing? Bad thing? You decide.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.