Despite the underwhelming box office and mixed reception to 2016’s Paul Feig-directed reboot, Sony Pictures remains very keen on mining the franchise potential of Ghostbusters. Jason Reitman – son of original Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II helmer Ivan Reitman – is gearing up to start shooting an as-yet-untitled sequel to the original films for release in 2020, while several other potential projects are apparently in the works including an animated feature.
Well, it seems one of those possibilities is a 1960s-set prequel exploring the teenage years of Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz, with original star and co-writer Dan Aykroyd revealing that he’s already penned the script.
“I’ve written Ghostbusters High, where they meet in New Jersey in 1969 and we’re looking to do that as probably a glorified feature or pilot within the next maybe five years,” Akroyd tells 660 City News. “And it would lead to a television project and I thought of Reitman immediately for that. It’s on his desk but that’s years away from the current project. But it’s a neat idea for a prequel. Imagine casting the three characters as teenagers!”
While Ghostbusters High isn’t a sure thing just yet, we do have a new Ghostbusters movie arriving in July of next year, and Aykroyd went on to offer some words of praise for the screenplay and story: “Ivan Reitman’s son Jason has written a beautiful script, I can’t say too much about it but it’s going to get made and hopefully there’ll be some familiar faces. It’s so different from even the first and second. This just takes it to a new generation and a new direction that is so warm, heartfelt and indeed, quite scary when you confront some of the issues that are being discussed.”
Would you be interested in seeing Ghostbusters High, either as a feature or TV project? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
Originally published May 27, 2019. Updated May 28, 2019.
