Ghostbusters 3 Hires New Writer, Might Actually Happen This Time

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

It looks like Ghostbusters 3 just might happen this time around. Last week, Dan Aykroyd, while at a signing to promote his Crystal Skull Vodka brand, stated that there are new writers currently working on a new script for Ghostbusters 3. Now Sony has officially announced that screenwriter Etan Cohen is on board to pen a new installment in the Ghostbusters franchise.

According to Variety, Etan Cohen was hired to write a new script after Sony passed on The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky’s script back in 2008. Cohen, who was the sole writing credit on Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black 3 will try to work his magic on this franchise’s long-simmering third installment. Men in Black 3 grossed over $600 million for Sony this past May.

The premise of Ghostbuster 3 is one of the most well known for a movie that has been in development hell since the release of the second installment back in 1992. It will find original cast members Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Bill Murray passing the torch to a new team of Ghostbusters. If only all aging properties would go this route instead of trotting out the older cast members.

Etan Cohen also wrote the screenplays for Mike Judge’s Idiocracy and Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, which should give Ghostbusters fans hope that the script for the third film will be smart and clever. Cohen is also attached to make his directorial debut in the horror-comedy Boy Scouts vs. Zombies for Paramount Pictures.

It really looks like Ghostbusters 3 will actually happen this time. A top studio writer and a commitment from the original cast seems like a good omen for this emerging project. The closest audiences got to a Ghostbusters 3 previously was the Ghostbusters video game in 2009 (which featured the voices of all four original cast members) and a cameo appearance by Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz in the movie Casper in 1995.