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‘Ghostbusters 3’ Was Happening…Until Harold Ramis Got Sick

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Vulture posted an in-depth interview with Ivan Reitman, the director of the original 1984 Ghostbusters and the producer of Paul Feig’s reboot. Not only does he reveal plans for the now defunct third Ghostbusters, but he also reveals that the studio had green-lit it before Harold Ramis got sick.

“By the way, the studio green-lit it. Everything was ready to go. I couldn’t get [Bill Murray‘s] attention, and in the midst of that, Harold got really sick. And that was pretty much it.”

Dan Aykroyd had been the most public about the sequel, almost campaigning to get it into production. There were many false starts, but plenty of rumors. It’s sad to hear that Ghostbusters 3 was finally going to happen and everyone’s hard work came to a close because we lost Ramis. We can only hope that Feig’s interpretation has him smiling from above.

If Murray hadn’t been dragging his feet, it may have actually come into fruition. What Reitman is referring in the above quote to is all the of the publicly reported drama Murray brought to the development process, which is why his character was to die in the opening scene. He speaks to all of this and his theory as to why Murray kept playing games:

“I worked with Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who wrote a number of movies [‘Year One’, ‘Bad Teacher’] and worked on ‘The Office’ together. They wrote a very funny script [for ‘Ghostbusters 3’] that I was very comfortable in directing, and both Harold and Danny wanted to do. And literally Bill refused to read it for a year. Then finally he may have read a few pages, and I got him on the telephone, and he said, “Look, I just don’t want to do this.” It had nothing to do with how good or bad the script was or anything like that. He was having his own issues in his own life, and I think he just didn’t want to engage…I think the reason that Bill wouldn’t read it was he didn’t want to make a decision about this. So he just ignored it.

“Bill and Sigourney’s kid, Oscar, is a postgrad student, and weird things start to happen,” he added, referring to Murray’s character in the third film. “Bill Murray dies in the first scene, because he always said, ‘I won’t do it unless I die.’ And I said, ‘Okay, you got it.’ [Laughs.] It was a father-son story, with him as a ghost.”

There was also version entitled Hellbent, in which the Ghostbusters actually battled the Devil. Reitman explains why:

“I was never a big fan of that one,” he tells the site. “Danny always loved it. To me, what was funny about the Ghostbusters was putting these extraordinary situations in a world that we knew, surrounded by people that we recognized, real New Yorkers acting like New Yorkers. I thought the comedy was in that juxtaposition. I’ve never liked the more fantastical versions.”

He segues into discussing the original plan for the 1984 film, which was to star John Belushi and take the ‘busters to space!

“Danny’s original treatment [for the original ‘Ghostbusters’], which he wrote for Belushi and himself, took place in outer space and the future, with competing groups of Ghostbusters and all kinds of stuff going on that was almost impossible to shoot on any budget, particularly then without CGI. So after Belushi passed away, he came to me. By then I had worked with Bill, I think three times, and Dan said, “I was thinking of doing this with Bill. What do you think?” And I sat down with him and pitched this contemporary story about guys who are paranormal researchers at Columbia University, get kicked out, and go into business. And it gave us a real structure to write a story that I thought could be way funnier than something more fantastical. It’s why I like the second ‘Ghostbusters’ so much. It probably wasn’t as big as it should’ve been. But I liked that a baby was at the center of it, and that it was really a domestic story. I just looked at that film again, and I was so proud of the comedy work between Sigourney Weaver, Bill, and everybody.”

The full interview has so much more, including plans for a follow up and a new animated movie!

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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Kristen Stewart Doesn’t Want to Make Any Marvel Movies But Does Want to Make a Scary Horror Movie

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Love Lies Bleeding featurette
Pictured: 'Love Lies Bleeding'

If you haven’t yet seen A24 and Saint Maud director Rose Glass’ new movie Love Lies Bleeding, you should definitely get out there and support it in theaters while you can. The critically acclaimed romantic thriller is one of this year’s best movies so far, driven by incredible lead performances from Katy O’Brian and the always compelling Kristen Stewart.

Katy O’Brian just landed a huge role in Mission Impossible 8, but what’s next for Kristen Stewart? Well, for starters, don’t expect to see her in any Marvel movies anytime soon.

Stewart tells the “Not Skinny but Not Fat” podcast, “I will likely never do a Marvel movie … it sounds like a fucking nightmare, actually.” She further explains, “You would have to put so much money and so much trust into one person … and it doesn’t happen.”

And so therefore what ends up happening is this algorithmic, weird experience where you can’t feel personal at all about it. So likely not,” Kristen Stewart continues in her chat with the podcast. “But maybe the world changes, that’s what I’m saying.” She notes, however, “if Greta Gerwig asked me to do a Marvel movie, then I would do it.”

So what DOES Kristen Stewart want to do next? Chatting with Variety on the red carpet just a couple months back, she indicated that she’s far more interested in horror than Marvel!

I’d like to make a good scary movie,” Stewart answered when asked what she’d like to do next. “Like something a little more psychological. Yeah, a really good horror movie.”

Kristen Stewart is of course no stranger to the horror/thriller genres, getting her start as a child actor in David Fincher’s Panic Room. From there, she starred in 2007 horror movie The Messengers, as well as the Twilight movies, ghost story Personal Shopper, and 2018’s Lizzie. And don’t forget 2020’s Underwater or David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future.

The ball is in your court, filmmakers. Let’s make it happen.

Kristen Stewart horror

‘Underwater’

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