Dan Aykroyd Gives Ghostbusters 3 Updates!

It’s been twenty years since we last saw Venkman, Stantz, Spengler, and Zeddemore don the gray jumpsuits, strap on the proton packs and kick some other-worldly butt. I vividly remember seeing both films in the theater when I was ten and thirteen. I also seem to vividly remember the Sigourney Weaver bathtub scene from Ghostbusters 2 (don’t act like you don’t know the one I’m talking about).

Talks of a third installment have been floating on the internet boards for years now and I for one, have been looking forward to it since the speculation began. For a while, the rumors were that Chris Farley was in talks to join the cast. Obviously with his passing that did not occur, but that was as close as anyone got to making Ghostbusters 3 a reality… until now.

When I heard that Sigourney Weaver may not be involved in the next film, I was more than a little disappointed. However, Geoff Boucher from the LA Times had a chance to sit down with Dan Aykroyd and talk to him about Ghostbusters 3. Aykroyd spoke on why the project took so long to get off the ground and what or who he doesn’t blame as the cause of the delay:

“I don’t put not making the third movie on Billy. We can’t do that. I’ve been very busy. Harold’s been busy, Ivan’s been busy. And a third script really didn’t coalesce properly. And Billy, you can’t blame an artist for not wanting to do the same thing again. He did two of them, for God’s sake. Although I’m the biggest cheerleader as the originator of the concept but I’ve never begrudged Billy not doing a third movie. I never said he held it up or that he refused. Hey, listen, he’s an artist. You can’t force somebody into it. I’m sorry he never read my third draft because I thought it was pretty good but, look, now we’re at a point that there’s a story that he can accept and that’s going to work, and I think we’re going to be in production fairly soon. We could be in production by winter.”

When Screen Rant last reported on Ghostbusters 3, Weaver was not confirmed as attached to the project but Aykroyd now confirms that she is indeed on board. She isn’t the only one returning; Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd will all portray their original alter-egos.

He also mentioned the possibility of two new characters, neither of whom would look terrible in a jumpsuit: Alyssa Milano (Charmed) and Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse) (I’m thinking bathtub scene all over again).

Milano does a voice role in the upcoming Ghostbusters video game and Aykroyd had this to say:

“I think they’re (Milano and Dushku) amazing… And I’m excited about the whole idea of getting this done.”

Writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who penned the upcoming Jack Black/Michael Cera movie Year One will not be teaming up with Ivan Reitman, who is “too busy as a mega-producer” to sit in the director’s chair as he did the first two films. Instead, Harold Ramis will helm the project, which isn’t a bad thing because he co-wrote the first two Ghostbusters and has established himself as a top-notch director with movies like Caddyshack and Groundhog Day. He also directed Year One.

As for the story of this newest Ghostbusters, Aykroyd had this to say:

“I’d like it to be a passing-of-the-torch movie. Let’s revisit the old characters briefly and happily and have them there as family but let’s pass it on to a new generation.”

Of course the details are still sketchy, but it will probably be a five member team with at least two female members. With principal shooting tentatively scheduled to start this winter, I’m sure we’ll see something more concrete in the next couple of weeks.

Who is willing to put on the jumpsuit, fire up the containment unit and dodge some slimy ghosts to watch Ghostbusters 3?

Source: LA Times Blog, Video Game Image from Terminal Reality