It’s a famous line from the original Ghostbusters theme song. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” Because the ghosts in Ghostbusters, both the original and it sequel, were never meant to be scary. The guys were making comedies that happened to involve the supernatural, not horror thrillers with a few jokes mixed in. But with a new Ghostbusters story potentially coming to theaters, chills and scares may be on the menu.
Dan Aykroyd, an OG Ghostbuster, was out promoting his vodka and answering Ghostbusters questions for The Canadian Press (via 660citynews.com). When asked about the script that Jason Reitman has produced for a possible Ghostbusters sequel, Aykroyd opened up a little and explained:
Ivan Reitman’s son Jason has written a beautiful script, I can’t say too much about it but it’s going to get made and hopefully there’ll be some familiar faces. … It’s so different from even the first and second [movies]. This just takes it to a new generation and a new direction that is so warm, heartfelt and, indeed, quite scary when you confront some of the issues that are being discussed.
The “quite scary” nod got us excited, because that would be a new direction for the franchise, and also for Jason Reitman as a director. Yes, he’s the son of the original director, Ivan Reitman. But nothing on Jason’s resume suggests that he’d be willing to tackle horror – though that doesn’t mean that he’s not ready to give it a try.
Also, with the reported casting of both Finn Wolfhard and Carrie Coon, the new movie might be leaning into a Stranger Things vibe, which taps into nostalgia by embracing ‘80s culture, but isn’t afraid to turn up the thrills when the story calls for it.
That first tease that Reitman filmed for this new Ghostbusters certainly set that mood:
But we don’t know a whole lot of details beyond that teaser, as the movie hasn’t yet gone into production. It is believed that the original stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson will return for this new movie, but we don’t know how they will be used in the story.
If Dan Aykroyd gets his way, however, the new movie will be the start of several new Ghostbusters stories, as he goes on to say in the interview:
I’ve written Ghostbusters High, where they meet in New Jersey in 1969 and we’re looking to do that as probably a glorified feature or pilot within the next maybe five years…. And it would lead to a television project and I thought of him immediately for that. It’s on his desk but that’s years away from the current project. But it’s a neat idea for a prequel. Imagine casting the three characters as teenagers! … We have other stuff after the Jason Reitman-helmed movie. We have at least one or two other concepts for the Ghostbusters and then we’ll look at doing the prequel, which will be a perfect button on all we’ve done up to that point.
Of course, those plans stop if the new movie can’t get the franchise back off of the ground. If the Paul Feig movie caught fire, the franchise could have continued in that direction. But for now, we are sitting back and anticipating a new Ghostbusters movie from Jason Reitman on July 10, 2020. Will you check it out?
