Updated on 07-31-2015 by Rick Marshall: Ivan Reitman, the producer of the Ghostbusters reboot and the director of the original Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, has denied that a spinoff movie is planned. Following the comments made by Drew Pearce, Reitman issued the following statement:
“There has been a lot of excitement recently about what is happening with the Ghostbusters franchise. As the producer of the new Ghostbusters film, I feel the need to clarify. There is only one new Ghostbusters movie and that is the Paul Feig directed version coming next July, presently filming and going fantastically. The rest is just noise.”
Back in March, the future of the Ghostbusters franchise got a little convoluted with the announcement of a second Ghostbusters movie with an all-male cast that would follow Paul Feig’s upcoming, female-led reboot. That project seemed to stall out a bit as Feig’s Ghostbusters gathered steam, but screenwriter Drew Pearce recently confirmed that rumors of the other Ghostbusters movie’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
“I’ve finished my work on [the Ghostbusters spinoff] in the last couple weeks,” Pearce told MTV during an interview promoting Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, which he also co-wrote. “Obviously it’s top secret, but there’s a gigantic bold idea that I came up with, and the Russo brothers — who did Captain America: The Winter Soldier and are doing Civil War at the moment — and Ivan Reitman, who did the original movie, are going to take that and run with it. Obviously I cannot tell you what it is, but hopefully in one year’s time you’ll know!”
Pearce later took to Twitter to clarify his comments and offer some additional clarification regarding the potential roster for that film’s team of Ghostbusters .
https://twitter.com/mrdrewpearce/status/626504635453427712
https://twitter.com/mrdrewpearce/status/626508713038319616
“For the record, my GB idea has a mixed gender team. Also ghosts of all classes (I to VII). It’s very inclusive that way,” wrote Pearce. “Also, I’ve only written a bible (because I have to go off and direct my own stuff). No script yet. So news cycle: CHILL YOUR BOOTS.”
Still, Pearce didn’t debunk the rumor that Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum were being envisioned as lead actors for the Ghostbusters film he’s scripting — even if the movie has yet to be officially green-lit by Sony Pictures.
“That’s definitely the cast we’ve been thinking about as we approach the project,” he told MTV. “Whether that happens or not is very much above my pay grade. It’s just my job to give them something exciting that maybe they’ll do.”
Asked whether the film would unfold in the same universe as Feig’s movie — something that seems like an obvious strategy but has been left surprisingly uncertain in earlier reports — Pearce only said that there has been “a lot of chatting” among the film’s producers about that very question.
“My personal inclination is to try and make everything occur in the same Ghostbusters universe, because I feel, as a fan, that’s what I would want,” he said. “Standing here in New York, you just want to tie it all together. Whether that happens or not we’ll see, but I’ve certainly given them the tools to do that, I hope.”
Feig’s female-led Ghostbusters reboot hits theaters July 22, 2016. There’s currently no timetable (or confirmation) of the second Ghostbusters movie at this point.
