We’re still a year away from the release ofGhostbusters 3, but franchise star Dan Aykroyd has already written a script for a potential prequel. In a recent interview about the upcoming sequel, Aykroyd spoke about his continued involvement in the franchise, touching on the prequel script he had written. CalledGhostbusters High, the movie would be set in the year 1969 in New Jersey, revealing how the Ghostbusters first came to meet. Written by Aykroyd, the idea is for the project to be developed as either a movie or TV series, but if it comes to fruition, it won’t be anytime soon.
“Just within two years. Although I’ve writtenGhostbusters 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…. And it would lead to a television project and I thought of him 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 the concept of aGhostbustersprequel is intriguing, one glaring problem is that it would leave poor Winston out in the cold. As shown in the original movie from 1984, Winston does not meet Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spangler until after they form the Ghostbusters. Because of this, it would go against continuity to involve him with the other characters in a prequel, unlessDan Aykroydthought up a creative way of doing so. Even in a prequel, the character’s presence would certainly be missed, as the character has always been an important part of the team in the movies, cartoon series, video games, and other media properties. Because he had a cameo in the 2016 reboot, it seems likely we’ll see Ernie Hudson reprise the role in some way in next year’s sequel.
This is far from the first concept Aykroyd has had to expand theGhostbustersuniverse. Immediately following the release ofGhostbusters 2, the actor envisioned the sequelGhostbusters 3: Hellbent, which would have seen the spirit hunters placed in an an alternate version of Manhattan called Manhellton. Despite his best efforts of the next couple decades, however, Aykroyd was unable to get the project off the ground. AfterHarold Ramis died in 2014, Sony then made the decision to reboot the series with director Paul Feig. An underwhelming performance with critics and at the box office stalled plans to continue the series under this new vision, leaving the future of the franchise unclear.
As fans of the series know now, next year’s sequelGhostbusters 3will be set in the same timeline of the original two movies. It will reportedly follow teenage recruits new to the team, but several characters from the original movies will likely reprise their roles. Even Bill Murray has said he is willing to appear in the movie, along with Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson. At this point, confirmed cast members include Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, and Carrie Coon. The movie is set to be released in theaters on August 06, 2025.
It’s best to wait forGhostbusters 3to get here first before we start getting too excited for any future projects from Reitman. As we saw in 2016, there’s no guarantee reviving the franchise will be a success. For the sake of the fans, let’s hope the new movie is just as great as the originals. Aykroyd’s words come to us from660 News.
