Good news for fans of GHOSTBUSTERS…

2 comments September 8th, 2008

According to an e-mail the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Caro received from Harold Ramis himself, a new GHOSTBUSTERS is in the works:

“yes, columbia is developing a script for GB3 with my year one writing partners, gene stupnitsky and lee eisenberg.  judd apatow is co-producing year one and has made several other films for sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent. aykroyd, ivan reitman and i are consulting at this point, and according to dan, bill murray is willing to be involved on some level.  he did record his dialogue for the new ghostbusters video game, as did danny and i, and ernie hudson.  the concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity.  not much else to say at this point.” 

Now here’s the bad news: Aside from Ramis’ annoying refusal, e.e. cummings like, to use capital letters in his e-mail, he neglects to mention one thing…

GHOSTBUSTERS II sucked.

It had the talents of all the people involved in the original, and it was awful. I remember seeing it during its original run way back in 1989, and it was so bad it remains one of the very few movies I’ve ever been tempted to walk out on. (And I sat through MANNEQUIN!) The stars were all back, the special effects were impressive, but something was subtly, horribly off, and in a comedy, that counts for everything. What was funny in the original was painful in the sequel.

Having some new blood involved this time around — besides Judd Apatow, the name Seth Rogan has been bandied about — could be a good thing. After all, it’s been 19 years since that sad sequel hit theaters and two dozen since the original. I like the idea of it being a genuine sequel, rather than a remake, with Bill Murray and company making small appearances. But comedy is a delivate thing, and big-budget, highly anticipated comedies are even more delicate. Nothing kills laughs like a whole lot of money and high expectations.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, the original music video for Ray Parker Jr.’s GHOSTBUSTERS theme. How many mid-80s celebs can you identify?