There've been so many different versions of Ghostbusters 3 in the works since the 1990s - one where the original cast gets transported to a hellish version of Manhattan, others involving a younger, hipper cast taking over from the originals - that it would almost be comical if it weren't so sad.But now it seems that the film is closer to becoming a reality than it ever was before. Earlier, director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) confirmed that he'll be helming Ghostbusters 3, which will be written by his The Heat scribe Katie Dippold. Soon after, Feig expounded on his plans for the film.

Courtesy of EW, Paul Feig talked about how he got involved with Ghostbusters 3 and how he plans to reboot the project:

I had lunch with [Sony Pictures co-chairman] Amy Pascal when I got back to town. She was just saying, gosh, nobody wants to do ['Ghostbusters 3'] I said, yeah, it’s really hard to take that on, especially since it’s 25 years later. How do you come back into a world that’s had these ghosts and all this? It just felt too difficult. How do you do it and not screw it up?

But then it was bugging me for the next few days because 'Ghostbusters' is such a great thing and everybody knows it, and it’s such a great world. It’s a shame to just let this thing sit there. I want to see another one. My favorite thing to do is work with funny women. I was like, what if it was an all-female cast? If they were all women?  Suddenly, my mind kind of exploded: that would be really fun. And then I thought, well, what if we just make it new? It’s not coming into the world that existed before. It’s always hard if the world has gone through this big ghost attack, how do you do it again? I wanted to come into our world where there’s talk of ghosts but they’re not really credible, and so what would happen in our world if this happened today?

Of course, it isn't news at this point that the next Ghostbusters movie will feature an all-female cast, but this may be the first official word from someone working directly on the film that it'll be a hard reboot. Indeed, the world of Ghostbusters 3 - which will obviously not be called Ghostbusters 3 - will apparently be entirely different from the one we saw in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2.

Feig went on to talk about how exactly Ghostbusters 3 will be a "restart," saying:

I love origin stories. That’s my favorite thing. I love the first one so much I don’t want to do anything to ruin the memory of that. So it just felt like, let’s just restart it because then we can have new dynamics. I want the technology to be even cooler. I want it to be really scary, and I want it to happen in our world today that hasn’t gone through it so it’s like, oh my God what’s going on?

[...] Both [screenwriter Katie Dippold] and I are obsessed with how do we make comedy really scary? The sequel to 'The Heat'was going to be pretty scary and funny. Almost like in a 'Silence of the Lambs'type thing but funny. I think funny people in peril and in danger is one of the best forms of comedy, and I really like things to play very real while funny things are happening. So that’s what both Katie and I really want to do with this one is make it crazy funny but also you’re scared at the same time.

While certain scenes from the original Ghostbusters probably scared a number of children in 1984 (and after) - the scene where Dana Barrett gets turned into Zuul the Gatekeeper comes to mind - it's probably safe to say that it's not a particularly "scary" movie. And it wasn't supposed to be either. It had its spooky moments, to be sure, but the point of the film was almost always purely fun.

If the Ghostbusters reboot will make a genuine attempt to be scary, that's a major shift for the franchise. Then again, who knows what Feig means by that? His idea of scary might be several rungs below The Conjuring. We'll have to wait to see - or hear - more to know for sure.

What about original cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson? Might they make a cameo appearance in the new film? Said Feig:

Well, I mean, look, those are my comedy heroes. So as far as I’m concerned, anybody wants to come back I welcome with open arms. It would just be in different roles now, but it would be fun to figure out how to do that.

I love each of those cast members, Bill Murray especially, but if the next Ghostbusters is going to be a true reboot, then maybe it would be best if they don't make an appearance. The last thing the film wants to do is stand in the shadow of the first Ghostbusters - a genuine comedy classic - and continually remind audiences of its brilliance. For my money, those sorts of cameos can only be distracting.

On the topic of Bill Murray's all-female cast suggestion - which included Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Emma Stone, and Linda Cardellini - Feig said:

It’s an awesome cast. For me there’s so many ways I can go with this because there are so many funny women that’s going to be the hardest thing to narrow down is who to put in. I’ve got a lot of ideas on that but nobody set in stone. That’s part of the fun for me is figuring out what’s the best combo, what’s going to be relevant and fun. Bottom line: I just want the best, funniest cast.

Finally, Feig talked bit about the new "costumes" and "hardware" we can expect from the film:

Everything is up for grabs right now. I look at this the same way a superhero movie launches where it’s always fun to see, like, what are they going to do with the costumes this time? What are they going to do with the hardware this time? It’s not going to be, here is the exact same stuff. It’s also not going to go, screw you, if you like that stuff, it’s all completely different.

It's not surprising that Feig would liken this new Ghostbusters film to a superhero movie. After all, superhero (movies, TV shows, whatever) are a pretty big deal at the moment, and they've made a lot of money for a lot of corporations. In fact, Dan Aykroyd has even talked in detail about turning the Ghostbusters franchise into a Marvel-style universe-building project.

As for the new hardware - let's hope that they don't go too advanced for the film. There was something particularly pleasing about the clunky, scratched up proton packs and their industrialized aesthetic. An iPhone-esque ghost trap just wouldn't have the same appeal.

Read the full interview here.

What say you, Screen Ranters? Do you like the sound of Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot? Drop us a line in the comments.

The Ghostbusters reboot is currently in development and has no release date.

Follow me on Twitter @benandrewmoore.

Source: EW