Tag: Sony

For every one of you that has ever said, “What is taking so long?” or “They are totally making this movie right now!” you need… NEED… to read this New York Magazine article, which outlines the deal Columbia made with the principles (Aykroyd, Ramis, Murray, and Reitman) to get Ghostbusters 2 made. And even moreso, it outlines how that deal, as it pertains to Ivan, might be why the project is still not greenlit – in short, Sony wants new directing blood, and Reitman’s contract says they can’t without his say so.

However, Sony’s hopes that FWB would lead to Reitman making a graceful exit from Ghostbusters III will likely be dashed. Insiders familiar with Reitman’s plans say he thinks the two comedies are not mutually exclusive, and still plans to direct both, raising serious questions about whether Sony will want to proceed with Ghostbusters III at all. However, losing Ghostbusters would make a tough 2011 even tougher, as the studio has no other franchise blockbuster scheduled.

Also mentioned through their grapevine is that the second draft of the Stupnitsky and Eisenberg script isn’t due until May.

THAT’S why the movie isn’t officially being made yet, as said here time and time again.

[UPDATE]
Jim Dixon at Examiner.com is saying he’s spoken to Sony directly and his sources says Reitman is still director – which you would think cancels out the Vulture article that says they want him out. But what’s missing is the perspective that NO Sony exec would say anything otherwise, while negotiations are still going on. The two aren’t mutually exclusive – the Vulture can totally have heard that Sony would prefer a different director, and contract reality says Reitman is in until he says otherwise. And Sony can totally be working towards production with Reitman at the helm, and saying so to every Tom, Dixon, and Harry on the Internet – as a public party line, regardless of what’s being discussed behind closed doors.

The Vulture’s information is just as off-the-record, so really, it’s hard to weigh one over the other anyhow, which means the only interesting piece of information is that we’re still two months away from a revised script – and if it doesn’t make all parties happy, Reitman’s role doesn’t matter, does it?

Thanks to Steven Hough for that one.

Sci-Fi Wire sat down with Ivan Reitman and talked hard, if briefly, about Ghostbusters 3 – three things to come out of it.

1) While Ramis worked with them on Year One, it was Sony that hired Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky to scribble a GB3 script – without consulting Reitman, Ramis, or Aykroyd. In fact, Sony has been pushing HARD for this movie – moreso than the principle actors/directors/writers involved.

2) Reitman is laughing off Murray as a ghost, but doesn’t deny it. In fact, he makes it sound like Murray is actually still talking about being a ghost, but since the script and deal isn’t a lock, nobody is committing to the idea.

“We’re well aware of his interest,” Reitman said with a chuckle when asked whether Murray’s Venkman will be going ectoplasmic. “I’ve had some wonderful conversations with him—and that’s all I’ll say.

To put it another way, Murray is talking about being a ghost – publicly to the press and, as Reitman suggests, privately to him – but that’s all it is at the moment. Talk. This also accounts for Weaver’s comments – it’s more than reasonable that the possibility came up in conversation, which she told the press, which made it sound confirmed, when really it hasn’t been agreed upon yet.
3) Everyone is, as we have surmised, interested, but there continues to be no deal and no start date, so there is, as yet, no official lock on the 2011 release. It can still happen, but there are a lot of hurtles that must be jumped first.