Ivan Reitman Says Virtually Everything We Know About Ghostbusters 3 Is Wrong

Ever since 2007 when it was reported that the possibility of a Ghostbusters III was still alive, we've been barraged with rumor after rumor about the production, from details about who from the original cast would come back to reprise their roles to stories about Peter Venkman's love child being the main character. Sorting through all of the stories, it's hard to pick out which ones might be legitimate and which ones might be fake. Well, I have received information from a very involved source that told me that nearly everything we've heard is wrong. The name of my source? Ivan Reitman.

This afternoon I had the privilege of sitting down one-on-one with the legendary comedy director/producer who told me that, "Virtually everything you’ve read on the internet [about Ghostbusters III] is not accurate." When I asked about if the project was still on schedule to begin production in May, as it was reported back in November, Reitman said that they still need to get their actors, though they "have some actors who seem to be interested in doing it, a ton of interest in the film."

But even beyond who will star in the film, Reitman said that the plot details are also off, as the first full script, written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, was only finished about a month ago. Given the stamp of approval, a copy has been sent to Bill Murray, who has been the most outspoken about the project, to see what he thinks.

Looking back at Bill Murray's comments about the project (see here, here and here), the biggest concern he has had is about the story and, without a script, he's called it "a myth." Now a completed script exists and it comes down to whether or not he likes it. Murray obviously has fond memories of the original film, playing out a scene with Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson in Zombieland and showing up in costume for the 2010 Scream Awards, so who knows? Maybe this long awaited and long in-development project will finally get made.

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.