Ghostbusters alum Dan Aykroyd has confirmed the original cast are returning for another movie. Having kept up hope for a third film in the Ghostbusters series for literally decades, fans are finally getting their wish – though with a slight twist on the franchise. Word spread quickly this past winter when it was revealed Oscar winning Juno director Jason Reitman would be taking on the third Ghostbusters film, and there was no small amount of initial hesitancy on the part of fans, given the last time there was news of a new entry it ended up being something completely different than what many had been hoping for.

The 2016 female-led Ghostbusters: Answer the Call wasn’t everyone’s idea of a suitable return to the world of ghostbusting and some went out of their way to make that clear. Though online trolls took immediate umbrage at the gender of the Ghostbusters in the reboot, other fans simply felt somewhat cheated by the new film. After waiting decades for more Ghostbusters as they knew it (and being assured by original Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd a follow up to 1989’s Ghostbusters II was on its way), what materialized was something wholly different than what those fans had been hoping for.

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The initial announcement that Reitman’s Ghostbusters would be a return to the film’s original universe was a massive sigh of relief for fans. However, as the weeks began to pass, it was revealed Ghostbusters 2020 wouldn’t deal with the original Ghostbusters. Instead, the film was intended to pass the torch on to a new generation of supernatural exterminators, this time made up of ghostbusting teenagers. Now, in a new interview on The Greg Hill Show, Aykroyd has confirmed although the latest film in the franchise doesn’t exclusively focus on the original cast, they will be indeed be returning. Check out the entire interview below, or skip ahead to 21:53 where Aykroyd talks about the film.

“Jason Reitman wrote a beautiful, heartfelt script that takes the real DNA from the first two movies and transfers that directly to the third, the next generation. It hands the legacy off to a new generation of stars, and players, and actors, and characters. And we’ve shot our part, so Murray, Sigourney and Annie Potts, and it was really exciting working on this new idea a new take on the story which Jason — who’s a really incredible and fine filmmaker — came up with. So I’m pretty excited.”

The Greg Hill Show Link

This confirmation comes at a time when Ghostbusters fans already knew Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Bill Murray would be returning for the Ghostbusters sequel. However, the main distinction here, as is often the case in Hollywood, nothing is ever certain until it's actually been filmed. Word of mouth is a very different thing than an actual finished product. In this case, fans now have confirmation Ghostbusters 2020 has finished shooting, and the entire original cast (minus the retired Rick Moranis and late Harold Ramis) are officially on their way back to the big screen next summer.

Of course, these same great actors had previously returned for director Paul Feig’s troubled 2016 effort. The difference this time around is, from the sounds of it, the original Ghostbusters will be passing on the torch to a new generation. This stands in stark contrast to Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, in which the likes of Murray or Aykroyd appeared in a knowing nod to their past but were not cast as actual Ghostbusters. It will indeed be exciting to see the original cast on the big screen once again and hopefully, Ghostbusters 2020 will finally provide the sort of sequel fans have long been waiting for.

Next: Everything We Know About Ghostbusters 2020

Source: The Greg Hill Show

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