A surprise move on the part of Sony Pictures, Deadline has just revealed that development is underway on a new Ghostbusters film separate from the one that Paul Feig is directing. According to the outlet, Captain America: The Winter Soldier helmers Joe and Anthony Russo are tentatively planning to helm with Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce providing the screenplay. What’s more, Channing Tatum will produce and likely star with the plot following an idea Tatum has been developing with Dan Aykroyd!
“We want to expand the Ghostbusters universe in ways that will include different films, TV shows, merchandise, all things that are part of modern filmed entertainment,” Ivan Reitman tells the outlet. “This is a branded entertainment, a scary supernatural premise mixed with comedy. Paul Feig’s film will be the first version of that, shooting in June to come out in July, 2016. He’s got four of the funniest women in the world, and there will be other surprises to come. The second film has a wonderful idea that builds on that. Drew will start writing and the hope is to be ready for the Russo Brothers’ next window next summer to shoot, with the movie coming out the following hear. It’s just the beginning of what I hope will be a lot of wonderful movies.”
Described as a “counterpart” to Feig’s Ghostbusters, details are currently few and we’re not quite sure yet whether this new film will be branching out of the world of the reboot or whether it will have ties back to Reitman’s original two Ghostbusters features. The news does arrive simultaneously with the announcement of Ghostcorps, a new company from Reitman and Aykroyd being established at Sony with an aim to explore Ghostbusters merchandising opportunities, including potential films, television tie-ins, and more.
Feig’s take on the property is said to be targeting a scarier tone that will not maintain any continuity with the original film or its 1989 sequel (or the surprisingly continuity-heavy animated series “The Real Ghostbusters,” for that matter). Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon are set to headline the July 22, 2016 release.
