Ghostbusters (2016): 10 Things You Didn’t Know

Ghostbusters (Columbia Pictures)

4. It was going to be a sequel instead of a reboot

Some of the actors involved, along with millions of franchise fans, had been longing for a third Ghostbusters movie for years. Star Dan Aykroyd in particular was heavily pushing for a Ghostbusters 3 to come out since the 90s, coming up with an idea he was calling Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent. This planned story would have featured the Ghostbusters winding up in Hell, or some kind of similar alternate dimension.

The project stalled for years, mostly due to the high budget Aykroyd was looking for and Bill Murray’s reluctance to get involved. In 2009, however, all four main actors from the series lent their voices to an official Ghostbusters video game, which sold over a million copies. That accelerated Columbia’s plans to bring back the franchise, and original director Ivan Reitman was brought in to help produce a sequel with Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.

Unfortunately, Murray was still playing hard-to-get, often not even reading new drafts of the script which were sent to him. In 2012, Reitman finally just suggested they reboot the film instead with a new cast. Reitman worked on the script with Aykroyd before later stepping down for a new director to come aboard.

Next: Harold's cameo