Original Ghostbusters to return to the big screen in 2020

By Peter Zemeske

The long-awaited third installment of the original “Ghostbusters” franchise will soon become an exciting reality. Fans were taken by surprise when Jason Reitman, son of “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters II” director Ivan Reitman, tweeted a teaser trailer on Jan. 16 with the caption reading, “everybody can relax, I found the car. #GB20.”

The trailer was 52 seconds in length and showed a barn in the woods with the camera slowly moving in to reveal the iconic Ecto-1, the vehicle the Ghostbuster team travelled in, all while elements of the original score by Oscar winner Elmer Bernstein played in the background. The only detail the trailer offered came in the form of a release date: summer 2020. Reitman hasn’t given the project a title yet, nor has he released any cast information.

However, Ernie Hudson, who played Winston Zeddemore in the original two films, has confirmed Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and himself will return for the third film, according to a Jan. 17 Daily Mail UK article. The third film will continue without Harold Ramis, who tragically passed away in 2014. Fans will have to wait and see how Ramis’ absence is addressed.

This film is part of the original franchise and will take place in the present day, according to a Jan. 16 Entertainment Weekly article. The new film will exclude the 2016 film, “Ghostbusters” directed by Paul Feig from being part of the original canon. Seeing as how Feigns “Ghostbusters” was a reboot and not from the same universe as the original films, this move makes sense.

Reitman’s diverse filmography includes the hit coming-of-age film, “Juno,” and most recently the political drama, “The Front Runner.”

Filming is set to begin in a few months, according to Digital Spy.