Twenty five years ago, New York was under an attack. Invaders from the afterlife appeared across the city, wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting citizenry. A call for help went out. Four men in jumpsuits answered. They were the Ghostbusters. A quarter of a century later the boys in gray are due for a comeback. Here’s a run down of the Ghostbusters franchise; where’s it’s been and where it’s going.
Ghostbusters
President Reagan was practicing voodoo economics. Princess Di was pregnant with Prince Harry. Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder had hit singles. The year: 1984.
Directed and produced by Ivan Reitman (Meatballs, Stripes), with the screenplay written by Harold Ramis (Knocked Up, Orange County) and SNL alum Dan Aykroyd, Ghostbusters starred Ramis, Aykroyd, Bill Murray (Lost In Translation, Meatballs, Stripes), Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Copycat), Annie Potts (TV's Designing Women), and Rick Moranis (Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Spaceballs).
University professors Dr. Peter Venkman (Murray), Dr. Raymond Stanz (Aykroyd) and Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis) lose their research grant when their experiment methodology is proven to be bogus. The team decides to go into business for themselves and open a ghost removal service. After struggling to get on their feet, they are summoned to investigate the strange happenings in Dana Barrett's (Weaver) Central Park West apartment. What they discover is that all Manhattan is being besieged by ghosts and other worldly demons through a portal in her building. After the role of Winston Zeddmore was turned down by Eddie Murphy, among others, Ernie Hudson signed on to play fourth ghostbuster. Had Murphy accepted the role his character would have been introduced much earlier. As it was, Zeddmore’s character was introduced later in the film.
Ghostbusters (the animated series)
Following up on the success of the movie, the cartoon featured the Ghostbusters keeping NYC safe from demons, curses, spooks and every other off-the-wall weirdness known (and unknown) to mortal man. This time they had help from their old nemesis Slimer, a new arsenal of weapons, and an occasional assist from their faithful secretary Janine. J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, wrote many of the episodes. Lorenzo Music, most recognized as the voice of Garfield, provided the voice of Dr. Peter Vankman, the character played by Bill Murray in the films. Allegedly Murray didn’t like that his character sounded like a fat feline and asked to have Music replaced. Dave Coulier, Uncle Joey from Full House, took over the part, basically doing his impression of Bill Murray in Caddyshack. Ironically, after Lorenzo Music died Murray took over the role of Garfield, voicing a CGI version of the cat in the two live action movies. The series changed names and formats a few times, running from 1986 to 1991.
Ghostbusters II
George H. W. Bush was practicing trickle-down economics. Sarah Palin was pregnant with her first child,Track. Milli Vanilli and Bobby Brown had hit singles. The year: 1989.
Five years after the events of the first film, the Ghostbusters have been plagued by lawsuits and court orders, and their once-lucrative business is bankrupt. However, when Dana begins to have ghost problems again, the boys come out of retirement only to be promptly arrested. They discover that New York is once again headed for supernatural doom, with a river of ectoplasmic slime bubbling beneath the city and an ancient sorcerer attempting to possess Dana's baby. Can the Ghostbusters quell the negative emotions feeding the otherworldly threat and stop the world from being slimed?
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Barack H. Obama is practicing recovery economics. Nicole Richie is pregnant with her second child. Blackeyed Peas and Beyoncé have hit singles. The year is 2009.
Arguably one of the most anticipated video game releases of the year, Atari's Ghostbusters: The Video Game breathed new life into the long-dormant franchise. Set in 1991, two years after the events of Ghostbusters II, the player takes on the role of a rookie ghostbuster as the team attempts, yet again, to save New York City from a cataclysmic supernatural event. The game is largely being treated as the third proper entry in the Ghostbusters canon as the film's original writers, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, have penned the game's script, an unusual move for a film-to-game adaptation. Much of the original cast have returned to lend their voices and likenesses, including the mercurial Bill Murray. The game also features the original movie score by the late Elmer Bernstein, the hit theme song by Ray Parker, Jr., and memorable foes from the classic movie, including the gluttonous green ghost Slimer and the mammoth Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. It is available on the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.
Ghostbusters III
Barack H. Obama will still be practicing recovery economics. I have no idea who will be pregnant, nor who will have hit singles. The year will be 2012.
Rumors of a third Ghostbusters film have been floating around seemingly forever, like an unwanted pesky poltergeist. Aykroyd almost got a third movie off the ground in the late '90s, but the project never happened and rumblings about a third film have been relatively quiet since then. That is until September 2008, when Harold Ramis confirmed Columbia Pictures had asked The Office writers Gene Stupnisky and Lee Eisenberg to pen a script for a potential Ghostbusters III.
According to an e-mail he sent to the Los Angeles Times, Ramis says much of the original cast, including Bill Murray, are eager to be involved in a new movie. The concept of Ghostbusters III would revolve around the old team in a mentor capacity and handing over the reins to a new, younger group. Ramis, in a recent web interview, asked for realistic expectation for the potential sequel:
We faced it before with Ghostbusters II. No matter how much people love [the first movie], the sequel will never live to their expectations. Is Spider-Man 3 as good as the first Spider-man? Probably not. Certainly the last Indiana Jones felt like a disaster– although I read online that Harrison Ford made $65 million from it. And I guess that is the reward for creating these cultural icons. But if were going to do it, it’s impossible to say it will be better than the first one. It’s not going to be like the rebooting of Batman– we’re not going to be wearing sculpted suits with pecs and abs built in to them. What made Ghostbusters funny was the low tech aspect of it… for us it will always be about characters [first], then secondarily it will be about the pseudoscience, the fake mythology.
Watch the Original Ghostbusters for free online, courtesy of crackle.com. Ghostbusters
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