With the sad passing of comedy legend Harold Ramis yesterday, many movie fans wondered what it would mean for the seemingly always in-development Ghostbusters 3. The project was already moving forward without Bill Murray attached, but now will they make the film with just Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson? The answer to that question appears to be "yes," as The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Sony has plans to rework the script that they have been developing.
Sources have told the trade that director Ivan Reitman is going to be meeting with the heads of the studio to figure out exactly how they will move forward. Apparently the idea for the script was to have Ramis, Murray, Aykroyd and Hudson make cameo appearances in the second sequel and then "set up a baton-passing to a trio of newcomers," but that doesn't seem to work anymore. Instead, the script - which was written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupinitsky - will have to be rewritten.
At the same time, other sources tell THR that Ramis' tragic death actually won't have too much of an effect of the story, saying, "He was always great to bounce something off of, and that will certainly be missed. But it won't affect the script."
Adding another layer to this story, TMZ caught up with Ernie Hudson yesterday, and when the actor was asked if there was any future for Ghostbusters 3 he said, "Well there can't be another Ghostbusters without Harold. It will be a Ghost- something, but it won't be... That was always my fear - that something would happen before we all got together." Basically, it doesn't sound like he is too on-board with this project anymore.
It's hard to say exactly where things stand with Ghostbusters 3 now. The original cast seems split, but the studio wants to move forward. THR says that no actor deals have been inked yet, which means that the movie is still probably very much in the development phase, but it should be the center of a lot of attention in the coming weeks.
As always, though, there is the big question: do we really want a Ghostbusters 3? How have the new circumstances changed the way you feel about the project? Answer our poll and relive some of the magic of the first two films in the trailers below.
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