The never-ending saga of development on "Ghostbusters 3" has a new plot twist. Paul Feig, director of "Bridesmaids" and "The Heat," has been revealed as Sony/Columbia's top pick to direct the long-overdue threequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two films, was attached to direct since talk of a "Ghostbusters 3" began in the early '90s, but he withdrew in March 2014.
If ever there was a perfect example of languishing in development hell, it would surely be "Ghostbusters 3." Its various stars have commented on talk shows and in interviews -- Bill Murray alone has been asked about it at seemingly every public appearance he's made over the last 20 years -- about the possibility of a third movie in the series. Murray has famously refused to commit to the film, but Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who wrote the screenplays for the first two movies, consistently repeated that a third movie was coming.
The duo came up with a story in the early '90s that found Satan himself transforming New York City into Hell, which the Ghostbusters team had to find a way to undo. That would be only the first of many scripts to never get off the ground.
A rotating door of comedy writers has worked on "Ghostbusters 3" over the years, including "The Office" writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, "Tropic Thunder" writer Etan Cohen and "21 Jump Street" writers/directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The film was originally meant to star the original actors from the first two movies, but as time has passed and the actors have aged, the story has turned into a "passing of the torch" where a new, younger, four-member team would learn from the old team and take up the charge. It's widely assumed that this is still the case, despite Murray's continual ambivalence toward the film and Harold Ramis' tragic death in February 2014.
Could "Ghostbusters 3" finally escape development hell after more than 20 years? Fans are exhausted from waiting so long for the 'Busters to return, yet remarkably, Sony still continues to pursue a third film after all these years.
The reason Sony is so persistent is that the original film remains a classic, a standard-bearer for modern action/comedy, that still has legions of fans and still holds up after 30 years. In addition, the "Ghostbusters" franchise continues to have one of the most recognized entertainment brands in the entire world.
Nothing formal has taken place regarding Paul Feig taking over as the director of "Ghostbusters 3," but The Hollywood Reporter believes that he is Sony's top pick for the job. If he does get it, then you can bet that he'll ask his favorite movie star, Melissa McCarthy, to become one of the new Ghostbusters.
