The 2016 Ghostbusters movie didn’t do as well as hoped, but that doesn’t mean this franchise is dead just yet.
We all know the saga of the Ghostbusters reboot film, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. There were a lot of concerns about making a reboot to begin with, plenty of controversy surrounding the choice of an all-female lead cast, and the subsequent poor showing at the box office.
It led a lot of fans of the movie to worry about the prospects of a sequel, which still seems unlikely to happen. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t be getting other live-action films set in the same universe.
Ivan Reitman is one of the head honchos over at Sony who is in charge of the Ghostbusters franchise. He produced last year’s film and has plans for releasing an animated movie in 2019 or 2020.
“We jumped into an animated film [after the last movie] and we are developing live-action films,” Reitman said in an interview with i09. “I want to bring all these stories together as a universe that makes sense within itself. Part of my job right now is to do that.”
It’s clear from the interview that Reitman is disappointed the most recent release didn’t make as much money as anticipated, but he also recognizes that quite a few planets had to align in order to make that happen. Just because this one didn’t go over too well, doesn’t mean all future projects won’t either.
Reitman unfortunately could not say more about any possible live-action installments, but it certainly raises some questions. How long will it take them to try again, and is sooner better than later? If we’re not getting the same team back for another movie, what direction do they plan on taking the story? How problematic will it be if the next movie features and all-male leading cast?