Update: Original Ghostbusters director and continuing producer Ivan Reitman has now added his voice to that of Drew Pearce... in a slightly more forthright manner. "There has been a lot of excitement recently about what is happening with the Ghostbusters franchise," he tells Uproxx. "As the producer of the new Ghostbusters film, I feel the need to clarify. There is only one new Ghostbusters movie and that is the Paul Feig directed version coming next July, presently filming and going fantastically. The rest is just noise.”
If you've been following the saga of the Ghostbusters rebootquel, you'll know that as well as the Paul Feig / Melissa McCarthy / Kristen Wiig incarnation, there's also been talk of another film, in a bigger-picture, Marvel-type connected universe stylee. Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt were both mentioned in connection with the project, although Tatum and Pratt have both said they're not doing it. Now, writer and overseer Drew Pearce (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Iron Man 3) has clarified what's going on, and at least confirmed that this mooted other Ghostbusters is still in the works.
"Obviously it’s top secret," Pearce told MTV, "but there’s a gigantic bold idea that I came up with." He continued that Pratt and Tatum are "definitely the cast we've been thinking about as we approach the project. Whether that happens or not is very much above my pay grade. It's just my job to give them something exciting that maybe they'll do." So it's being written with those guys in mind, but they remain far from attached.
Pearce has since taken to Twitter with a couple of further nuggets, saying that he's written a TV series-style "Bible" for the possible extended Ghostbusters franchise, but the script for this second film doesn't yet exist. Addressing the ridiculous internet controversy around Feig's oh-so-horrifying cast of talented comedic actresses and SNL veterans, he added, "For the record, my GB idea has a mixed gender team. Also ghosts of all classes (I to VII). It's very inclusive that way."
His "gigantic bold idea" is now in the hands of the Russo Brothers (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War) and original Ghostbusters honcho Ivan Reitman, who will "take it and run with it. Hopefully in one year's time you'll know more."
Separate, interconnected Ghostbusting concessions across New York? Across America? Across the world? See you here next July. In the meantime, says Pearce, "Chill your boots..."