We try to be sensitive to internet rumors here, and if one thing has leant itself to way too many speculative articles, it’s the return of the Ghostbusters. The most recent new development rumored earlier this year has been officially announced to be true today. Bridesmaids and The Heat director Paul Feig will take on the third film, and will be casting a new team comprised of all women. Feig tweeted on the afternoon of October 8th, “It’s official. I’m making a new Ghostbusters & writing it with @katiedippold & yes, it will star hilarious women. That’s who I’m gonna call.” Katie Dippold wrote The Heat, as well as several episodes of Parks & Recreation.
This is a refreshing turn of events for this installment of the series after years of production delays from a supposed script by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (Year One, Bad Teacher, and a good many episodes of The Office, including the painfully classic “Scott’s Tots”), and helmed by returning original director Ivan Reitman. The main proponent of all news and hype regarding a new Ghostbusters has been Dan Aykroyd, who seemed hellbent on making it happen (with or without co-star Bill Murray.) After the tragic loss of Har0ld Ramis earlier this year and Reitman’s subsequent pulling out as director, it seemed the project would be out of the discussion for awhile, but as recent as July, Aykroyd still promised production to start soon.
The project had long been rumored to center around a group of fresh-faced younger Ghostbusters, possibly with the old team as mentors. When Feig was brought to the table in August, an early stipulation was that this new team had to be all female, a familiar and more than welcome sentiment from the director, who brought Kristen Wiig’s delightful Bridesmaids script to great success in the comedy world. The announcement today only confirmed the director and writer, but surely there will be more speculation until the next announcement regarding casting. Many will likely assume Feig to bring familiar faces like Wiig’s or Melissa McCarthy, both of which have Bill Murray’s support.
While it is unknown whether or not Ghostbusters 3 will be Paul Feig’s next project (after 2015’s Spy), we can now safely discuss the film as a real thing. The film will be released via Sony Pictures, and Ivan Reitman will return as a producer.
