Ghostbusters 3.
It's a title that speaks so many volumes amongst life long fans like myself, that I have waited since I was three years old for this film to be made. Over the years, nearly two and a half decades later, it seems closer then ever to finally becoming reality. After the disaster that became the "Ghostbusters: Hellbent" script went out the window around 1999, all hope had seemed lost. However, with the recent celebration last year in 2009's 25th anniversary of the first film, which originally hit theaters in 1984, it seems a resurgence of the franchise is, FINALLY, in full swing.
A little more into the late 90's script for 'Hellbent', had the four guys in the classic grey flight suits just like the original, battling not just spooks, but demons themselves from, yep, you guessed it, Hell. Not only that, but they faced blue minotaurs (one of my favorite creatures in all of the world's mythology), as well as the main antagonist, a devil in the form of a traveling cross-dimensional billionaire-like archetype, aptly named, Lou Siffler. They needed to cross over to the ghost world, where Manhattan was dubbed 'Manhelltan', in order to defeat Siffler on his own turf, so to speak. The script also rumored to have a few new 'busters, I remember reading the names from a few entertainment news sites years ago, but it was long ago, and trust me, the characters sounded horrendous, if they we're worth anything, I would have remembered them.
However, back the the 25 and counting years growing in popularity, 2009 also saw the arrival of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which was amazing, and a wildly popular follow-up of the second movie, it filled a lot of holes as to what directly happened after defeating Vigo The Carpathian, in their second cinematic outing, but the shocker was, amongst the fan community, it still left a lot more questions that needed to be answered! The blessing in disguise, however, was the fact that the game was successful, it spawned a total relaunch in newly designed Action Figures, Dolls, Clothing, Mini-Mates Toys, Assorted Collectibles, the Ecto Hot Wheels Car and set, not to mention the fact that the fans are all still as dedicated, and the loyalty the world has to paying homage to this franchise, even has a hesitant (and sometimes angry at the idea of the third flick), Bill Murray, warm up to the idea that it could be a fun bit of closure for him and the fans alike. In my opinion though, Murray is just pulling everyone's leg when he says he doesn't wanna do it, it's clearly his type of humor, while everyone else is playing along with his "disapproving" view of the inevitable film's progress, so when it say's "It's A Crock" or anything like that, I am willing to bet it's not the movie he's talking about, it's the game he's playing with the fans in order to preserve the excitement and emotion the fans invest into this, so they can truly appreciate it for all it is!
Back to the new recruits, I was a huge fan of Extreme Ghostbusters, the second animated series spawned from THIS franchise (not talking about Filmation's live and animated works, those never worked for me, unless I'm really bored and surfing YouTube), and I think the new 'busters in this particular series were very well put together, and I believe they would be awesome transitions to film! Now, with recent casting rumors, announcements, and offerings from the franchise shareholders, Sony executives, and various other powers that be behind this beloved movie, I feel they should take a look into these already established characters, to give then a further purpose behind more then just a classic animated series that came and gone in the matter of a few seasons. The rumors and internet itself has been buzzing about the possible casting's of Eliza Dushku and Anna Farris. It may be just me, but I think Eliza would be a perfect cast member for female Extreme Ghostbuster, Kylie Griffin. It doesn't have to be the entire four members of the Extreme timeline, but she would be a perfect representation of it, to give it relevance in film, without creating unnecessary characters just for the sake of abandoning continuity, that's the only thing I am afraid of with this, because Ghostbusters was always one true franchise I could rely on for it's continuity as much as it's story development! I'm not sure where Anna would fit in though in this film, she would look pretty out of place as a 'buster, maybe a goofy damsel in distress or the modern Louis Tully, who knows?
So, moving right into why I think this would be made smoothly in spite of all the doubts lately, I can't help but feel there isn't an easier movie that could be made than this, period. Reason being, they have enough plot depth, all ready to be wrapped up and tied together full circle by one revelation, brought on by one character.. OSCAR. Yes, the baby from the second movie that Vigo tried to steal the soul from. Well it's being rumored that Oscar will be revealed to be Venkman's (Murray) biological son! When I heard that, all I could think of was how awesome that would be! There could be a bigger main antagonist, bigger then Shandor, Gozer, Vigo, pretty much everyone combined, heck, the villain could be the one they all are answering to all along and/or working with!
Here is my take on the whole plot for Ghostbusters 3:
* The villain would be someone powerful then all before, including Gozer, and will be connected to them in some way. His goal will be to bring Armageddon in December of 2012 to fulfill the prophecy of the Mayan Calander's End.
*Dana's son Oscar will be grown up and now a Ghostbuster. The other new recruits are Eliza Dushku's character, (likely Kylie from Exreme Ghostbusters), as well as a funnyman type, likely played by a Jack Black or Paul Rudd type actor. Oscar (since he's in his twenties), will have a romantic thing with Anna Farris' character, while the other new male 'buster will have a romantic thing with Dushku's.
*Oscar will be kidnapped as the chosen vessel or sacrificial lamb of this villain to "seal the deal" of this Apocalyptic plan, by his love interest, (Anna Farris)'s character, as she comes to be possessed into being the villain's lackey, and the place of this final showdown is right at the heart of Central Park, a "Slime Fortress" rises, with a slime mote around it, this film will be more of that Black-ish Purple Slime from the game. Due to the powers of this slime and Egon's technology for "Ghost-Ghostbusting", Venkman will reluctantly volunteer at first to cross over, to lure the enemy fully into our own realm, and eventually save Oscar as well. Dana will not tell Peter it's really his son until a very tense and climactic moment when the villain crosses over and becomes huge and ugly, much like Shandor's destructor form from the climax of the realistic version of the video game, and "Ghost Venkman" helps deliver the final blow and nearly sacrifices himself for the guys. He decides in a comedic way that he could get used to his ghost abilities, and says he's just gonna stay on the other side, but promises to always taunt the guys, "and MAYBE protect them A LITTLE too" he says, until he realizes he can't get away from Slimer now, and it turns into a funny ghost chase as credits roll..
So, what do you think? This is my first ever article, Hope you all really enjoy it! I hope to entertain you with much more to come, so if you like it, stay tuned! I greatly appreciate your thoughts on this!