Bustin’ makes me feel empty inside.
In the wake of Harold Ramis’s death, Ivan Reitman had stepped aside as director of Ghostbusters 3, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller (of The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street) were in talks to direct. For the first time in four or five years, Ghostbusters 3 sounded like it might actually happen. Well turn your upside down frowns right-side up, because Lord and Miller don’t want the job.
Hearing LORD & MILLER ended up walking away from GHOSTBUSTERS 3 job. They were the studio’s choice but wanted to keep their options open…
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) April 7, 2014
Lord and Miller were more or less the only reason anyone could have to be excited about a 30-years-past-due sequel to Ghostbusters. From the studio standpoint, they seemed like the perfect choice. If they could make decent movies out of 21 Jump Street and the concept of LEGOs, you figure they might be able to work magic a third time on a bad idea for another Ghostbusters. The question always was, why would they want to? And as it turns out, they don’t. As a potential viewer, I’m kind of happy about it. Sure, they made me curious about the possibility of a Ghostbusters sequel, but I’d kind of like to see what they do with a project that’s not just a property someone with money happened to own the rights to. The were getting to the point in their careers where it was kind of like watching John Hughes direct a movie about the Slinky.