Ghostbusters 3 Is Officially On! – Ivan Reitman Will Not Direct

It seems strange, but we actually have some official Ghostbusters 3 news for you today, but I can’t help think why did it take so freakin’ long!? Sadly, with the passing of Harold Ramis, the franchise will never be the same but here’s hoping they can do something in his honor.

Now, the folks over at Deadline, have confirmed that Sony Pictures is eyeing an early 2015 production start date in New York on Ghostbusters 3. But, with the film set to go into production there is one major set back and that is that Ivan Reitman will not come on-board to direct, due to the death of his close friend Harold Ramis.

However, Reitman will help Amy Pascal find a new director to take over Ghostbusters 3, in what many hope will reboot the franchise.

Reitman also spoke with Deadline regarding the long road up to this point;

There has been all kinds of stuff, unofficially written about Ghostbusters. I’ve been reading things online for about four years, speculation on who’s writing, what they’re writing, who’s in it, who we will use, and who’s directing. We’d decided not to comment up till now, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, and it was never clear what Bill was going to do. A lot of things happened in the last few months, the most significant of which was the passing of Harold, who was a very good friend who was extraordinarily influential in my career. We did five movies together including both Ghostbusters.

It’s a version of Ghostbusters that has the originals in a very minor role. When I came back from Harold’s funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I’d just finished directing Draft Day, which I’m really happy with and proud of. Working on a film that is smaller and more dramatic was so much fun and satisfying. I just finally met with Amy and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I’d been thinking about it for weeks, that I’d rather just produce this Ghostbusters. I told them I thought I could help but let’s find a really good director and make it with him. So that’s what we’ve agreed will happen. I didn’t want all kinds of speculation about what happened with me, that is the real story.

At this time Sony are currently working on a shortlist of directors that they’re planning to go out to. Once that is in place they will begin finding the new cast. Reitman also confirms that they will be retaining the spirit of the original film.

So guys, let us know what you make of this and who, if anyone would you like to see direct?