Ghostbusters III presumably pushes forward with a new screenwriter on board

Well, it looks like Ghostbusters III has officially been green-lighted again, but with a new screenwriter under the helm. According to a recent report posted by Variety, Sony Pictures has tapped Etan Cohen (Men in Black 3, Tropic Thunder, Beavis & Butt-Head) to help rewrite the script that’s been kicked around for awhile. Cohen will be replacing the previous writers, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg of The Office and Bad Teacher fame. Poor Dan Aykroyd … he’s been trying to get a third movie made since the 1990s. Won’t anyone answer his plea? If I were an experienced screenwriter, I would definitely pitch in!

As a person with a Ghostbusters shrine in my living room – I mean literally a shrine, with some of the comic books, both soundtrack vinyl albums, the original movie poster, and assorted autographs from Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd donning my walls, with action figures from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon and a vintage 1984 Galoob StayPuft doll still with its tags in the bag spread across my entertainment center – this comes as potentially good news to me. Maybe finally, there will be a script that meets with the approval of Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Ivan Reitman, and most importantly, Bill Murray, who hasn’t been too keen on suiting up and donning his Proton Pack once again.

Everyone agrees the script must be practically perfect to justify a third installment of what I consider to be one of the greatest movie franchises of all time. From other reports that have piqued my curiosity over the years, the latest movie’s plot would most likely center around the original Ghostbusters training some new recruits to try their hands at ghostbusting. Some variations have said these new recruits may or may not include either Igon Spengler’s son or even a grown-up version of Dana Barrett’s son, Oscar. You know, the little baby who was snatched in Ghostbusters II to be an earthly vessel for Vigo the Carpathian?

I think this is a great way to preserve the integrity of the old movies while still attracting a new generation of fans eager to see the latest “who’s who” in Hollywood. I, for one, would love to know what’s become of old Oscar. Some of the names I’ve seen posted as being possible new recruits have included Jonah Hill, Matthew Gray Gubler and even Ashton Kutcher (I’d hate to see him in it, but whoever they cast is sure to be met with some skepticism, I suppose). And actually, Bill Murray wasn’t even supposed to be in the first movie. Originally, Dan wrote the part of Peter Venkman for his partner-in-crime, John Belushi, but John died before the project ever came to fruition. I love the fact that Dan has always referred to Slimer as Belushi’s ghost.

I trust that neither Aykroyd nor Murray will commit to it unless it meets their complete standard of approval and enthusiasm. I just hope they can keep Murray on board because the franchise just wouldn’t be the same without him as the charming, hilarious ladies’ man Peter Venkman. And let’s face it; the Ghostbusters aren’t getting any younger. It will be a sad, sad day when any of them passes on. I’d love to see them all together in the suits with the Ecto-1 behind them at least one last time. Please?

While I’m not usually a fan of remakes or even revivals of popular series (Blues Brothers 2000 just wasn’t the same without John Belushi no matter how hard Dan Aykroyd tried), the inner child in me can’t help but be very, very excited about the possibility of a new Ghostbusters movie on the big screen. If it ever happens, I guarantee you I will be there at the midnight showing with all my fellow nerds. Hell, I might even dress up as Janine Melnitz because she’s always been one of my biggest style icons with her dazzling red hair and nerd glasses. Any chick that got to hang around the firehouse and discuss the supernatural is aces with me.

Now, if we can only get Hi-C to bring back their Ecto Cooler drink, my life would be complete. Ask any child of the ‘80s, it was the stuff. A promotional tie-in with the popular cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters, it was a juice box with Slimer’s picture on it and the juice was green. When I was in elementary school, we had an afternoon break in which we were encouraged to bring in some sort of fruit-based snack. Nine times out of ten, my snack for “fruit break” consisted of Fruit Roll-Ups and a box of Ecto Cooler.

I did some research on Ecto Cooler – apparently Slimer wasn’t retired from its box until 1997. The product was repackaged as Shoutin’ Orange Tangergreen in 2001 and was eventually renamed Crazy Citrus Cooler in 2006. The drink was finally discontinued for good in 2007, but if you do a search for it on the Internet, you can find several recipes claiming to taste as good as the original. All I want is to be able to enjoy a Ghostbusters III on the big screen and maybe sip an Ecto Cooler. Is that too much to ask for? Don’t you know bustin’ makes me feel good?

Clacked by Kim Tibbs
on Jul 12, 2012 @ 11:00 EST5EDT