Ghostbusters 3 may very well be the greatest example of 'development limbo' in the history of the medium. Ever since the release of Ghostbusters 2 in 1989, the sequel has gone through countless script rewrites and cast changes; so many that it was unsure if the film would even enter production. Even recently, the project has changed dramatically a number of times, with the cast and crew being completely turned on its head. Now it seems that Ghostbusters 3 could end up being a very different movie from when it was first conceieved.
Rumors have surfaced that Katie Dippold, lead writer for The Heat, has joined Ghostbusters 3 to rewrite the script and finally move the project forward.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dippold will join director Paul Feig on the newest version of Ghostbusters 3. The two have previously worked together on the buddy-cop comedy The Heat and its upcoming sequel. Feig was announced as the film's new director back in August and the film was reworked to feature female leads. For now, it seems the project is back on track, though the script has always been a problem for Ghostbusters 3 in the past.
The first Ghostbusters is an undeniable classic, and was one of the biggest movies of the '80s. The sequel, while a decent film on its own, just didn't have the same magic as the original. Following the lukewarm reception of Ghostbusters 2, Dan Aykroyd had written a script in the early '90s for a potential Ghostbusters 3 that saw the gang enter a parallel version of Manhattan to fight the devil (this plot would later be reworked into the 2009 video game).
For ten years, the film was worked on, then left to rot, then resurrected again. Bill Murray would be interested in the project, then the actor would back out. Scripts were written and then thrown away. The closest the film actually got to shooting was when Ivan Reitman was announced as the film's director, but even that failed to truly get the ball rolling.
What seemed to be the final nail in the coffin was the tragic passing of Harold Ramis in early 2014. Follwing Ramis' death, Reitman stepped down as director, leaving the film in limbo yet again, with no clear solution in sight. There were talks of other directors for months, but it would be nearly half a year before Paul Feig took the reigns of Ghostbusters 3. In August 2014, Feig took over production and then announced that he would rework the film to feature an all-female lead cast.
The idea of a new generation of Ghostbusters is really the only way forward now that Ramis is gone, and an all-female cast has definitely worked out for Feig before. Rumors have it that the film will be a total reboot of the franchise and be completely disconnected from the earlier films, though with a production as troubled as Ghostbusters 3, it's impossible to truly confirm or deny anything just yet.
When it comes down to it, the success on a new Ghostbusters film relies almost entirely on the quality of the script. If her previous work is anything to go by, Katie Dippold is definitely up to the challenge.
