oh, i forgot, Egon would be an alien from a dead planet and they would clone winston a few million times to fight off the army of zombies that would wash over the earth.
once again, i'm kidding.
i love you guys, you're great.

Hey guys.

I posted once here a ZILLION years ago (ok, so that might be a bit of a hyperbole), but I guess you can consider me a newbee. Anyway, I'm not only a huge Ghostbusters fan, but I'm also a screenwriter. I've written for a small cable tv show and I currently have a script being read by a few productions companies. I'm not big in the film industry or anything, but I have a bit of experience. That said, one of my first projects was developing an idea for a GBIII.

No, this wasn't a requested concept from a studio or anything. It was more or less a writing sample for me. Still, I think I came up with something kind of cool. I'm not sure how original it is, as there may be others who post here who have come up with something similar (again- it's been a long time since I posted, so I may have missed similar ideas), but here's my concept:

GHOSBUSTERS III:

Ghostbusters is now a multi-national, billion dollar industry. It has become so big, in fact, that the Ghosbusters recruit much like the army. In an effort to keep up with rapidly increasing paranormal activity, Ghostbusters Inc. is recruiting people all over the world (imagine Uncle Sam-style “I WANT YOU” posters plastered all over Manhattan, with Uncle Sam replaced with a patriotic Venkman). They have offices in every major city and a massive Ghostbusters training facility in New York.

Our original Ghostbusters are now living the sweet life. Ray runs the training facility. Egon oversees the technology development branch of Ghostbusters Inc., Venkman is head of publicity and advertising (if he were actually to appear in ANY version of GB3), and Winston is CEO (I thought this would be funny, as Winston was always the “lesser Ghostbuster”- it would be cool to see him running the whole show).

Life is great for everyone, though our aging Ghosbusters, especially Ray, would love to be back in action one more time…

Now here's where my idea gets… well, pretty out there. If anything, it's original.

A group of young, fresh Ghostbuters straight out of training school (insert some hot young stars here, maybe Dane Cook, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, hell… I don't know, but you get the idea) are having a problem with a particular haunting. An old farmhouse in upstate New York has become an interesting problem. Our new heros report there to round up some ghosts, they do their job and succeed on their first real mission, but…

The next day they are called back to catch more ghosts, and the next day, and the next day…

The place is an unending well of entities. No big Gozer like demons or anything like that, but just a neverending spout of ghosts.

That's when our original heros step in. When this problem is reported back to GBHQ, Ray and Egon go to investigate. The energy readings for the farmhouse, which seemingly has no historic qualities that would merrit such a strong supernatural presence, are off the scale. Bigger than Gozer. Bigger than Vigo. Bigger than anything are guys have seen before.

Through research and a variety of twists that are too numerous to explain in one post, Ray and Egon make a horrifying discovery:

During World War II, the US experimented with using ghosts as weapons. Using technology developed by physicists, the government was secretly Ghostbusting decades ago, capturing spirits from all over the world and containing them in a crude-but-effecting containment cell dubbed Project 12.

The idea was that these ghosts could be put into smaller containment cells that could be dropped behind enemy lines like “ghost bombs.” They collected virtually millions of ghosts, some straight from WWII battlefields. When the project was deemed too dangerous, it was dumped, leaving the government with a massive containment unit bubbling over with spirits. Knowing that destroying the unit would release the spirits and unleash the ghostly equivelent of the atomic bomb, the physicists in charge of project 12 sunk the massive containment unit into an unmarked underground site.

That site: directly under the farmhouse.

With the unit now leaking, hundreds of ghosts are escaping and running wild, but the possibility of a total failure of the old containment unit would unleash an entire army of angry spirits on the world.

Our original Ghostbusters, working with our new Ghostbusters, have to diffuse the massive ghost bomb before disaster strikes. Just imagine sort of a “ghost battle field,” with Ghostbusters from around the globe uniting around the farmhouse to battle the leaking spirits while Ray and the boys go underground to try to transfer the spirits into a safer unit.

What's more, the GBs would find themselves up against the military and a viscious General who has been given the task of making sure that Project 12 stays a secret.

It would be a bit more of an action adventure take on the Ghostbusters premise, but there's plenty of room for comedy. I like the idea of one of the new Ghostbusters actually being completely terrified of ghosts, and the only reason he is a Ghostbuster is because it is part of his therapy.

Maybe there could even be kind of a punk Ghostbuter, who was given the choice between Ghostbusting community service or jail for various forms of troublemaking…

What I like about this is that this idea could totally exist without Bill Murray, and there could also be spots for Rick Moranis and others.

There is also the possiblity of more intrigue. I like the idea of Ray and Egon infiltrating a secret government facility to get info on Project 12. This could actually be pretty funny.

I would love to know what you guys think about this idea. Sorry for the long post.

Welcome back to the site earlyman 75.

Your ideas for the story are both interesting and original.

However, I personally have always thought that the Ghostbusters buisiness should stay small and concentrate on just a few characters. I don't know, there's just something special about that. I would like it to star the original four for a third and final time.

Instead of a government cover up, how about a rival company who catch the ghosts and then dump them off somewhere? Let's say a dumpyard or to the bottom of the sea.

Hey, Matthew.

Wow. It's kind of funny. I think that I may be more of a Aykroyd and you may be more of a Ramis! What I mean is that Dan always has dreamed up the big, strange concept, and Ramis always keeps him grounded by adding heart to the story.

I know what you mean about the originals and the firehouse, but I guess I'm just concerned that we've seen that already (twice).

Don't get me wrong- I love both of the originals (obviously, or I probably wouldn't be posting here!!), but I think it's time to step out and do something new. The idea of a rival company is a possiblity. My only concern there is that I could quickly see that becoming another “Ghostbuters down on their luck” scenario like we saw in GB2.

I know there is nothing realistic about Ghostbusters, but…

If I were thinking REALISTICALLY, a company that saved the world would take off and become huge (or get sued and go out of business, but I think we've already gone that route - LOL). I see where you are coming from- it would be neat to center around the originals, but that's what part of the story could be about. Ray and Egon could kind of be reeling from all that their little business has become, and though they are successful, they just want to get back to that little group again.

So that could be incorporated. Like a feeling of loss, like the group has lost its unity and they are desperately seeking that partnership again, but their new corporate positions don't allow time for it.

I know Ghostbusters films are about ghosts and excitement, but they really are also about heart. As wild as my idea sounds, I think it could still have that feel.

More comments? I really want to know what people think about this idea.

i dig your idea, man. from day one, aykroyd wanted GHOSTBUSTERS to be a big-time business. i have no doubt that if GB3 were to move forward, they would be out of the firehouse, with a LOT of employees.

Wow… that really IS original… too bad Uwe Bole allready snapped up the movie rights to Onionhead's idea.


:-)

Welcome to the boards, earlyman75 (I'll skip the protocol).

You've got an interesting and very original idea going there… and with mistrust in the gorvernment and army at a high at the moment, would be perfect for release as a movie now.

Do you have plans to take it to the scripting stage, or do you want to keep it on the burner should some opporunities open up?

Either way, nice work and good ideas.

Thanks for the replies, gang.

Kingpin: No, I'm not going to script it (though I would really, really like to). I think my agent would see it as a waste of time, and in all honesty, she might be right.

That said, if I do sell the script that Fox and some other companies are seriously considering right now, the very least I'm going to do is pitch the idea to my agent. Right now, I'm a nobody without a credit to my name. Any idea I have, good or bad, is just a “fan boy” script. If I do sell something though, then that changes things a bit.

In one sense, though, part of the script IS written. See, the idea of government scientists using ghosts as weapons was part of a script that I wrote about five years ago. It went over pretty well and nearly sold, but it was a little too dark and serious. My agent at the time told me to make it more like “Ghostbusters.” That's when it clicked that if I could take out my characters, make some edits here and there, and insert the GBs, the script would be great.

And one last little note: for serious Ghostheads, this idea may seem too dark. Keep in mind that both GB movies have very, very dark premises, but it's the silly humor and light-hearted tone that make these films funny. Afterall, both are about demonic creatures bent on sucking the world down to hell, but both are funny because of the clever writing and acting.

I think I could pull that off with this idea too. I think this movie would have a lot of heart because it would also be a story about growing old physically, but staying young inside. Our original Ghostbusters are getting old and they know they are passing the torch, but it would be neat to see them realize that they could still be productive in more than a leadership role.

I have this idea for a running gag throughout the movie that would kind of end with a… dare I say it… “warm fuzzy.” Here's the idea: With Ghostbusters now a HUGE company, they have no real need for the old firehouse any more. All Ghostbuster offices are lavish, modern facilities- not rundown old firehouses. Throughout the course of GBIII, it would be cool to see our original GBs drive past the old firehouse once or twice. It could be in severe disrepair. Old, abandoned.

In the end, though, after assisting in saving the world yet again, it would be cool to see them buy it back so they could “get back to their roots.” The story would end with them moving out of their cushy offices and back into the original firehouse to run the GB Empire from there.

Just a thought.

The Spud's still gonna be in it, right? :-O

Nuts, I want to read it even more now…

My question really meant, would you write it in a fan script context? Upload it online for all the fans to see, or would that kill even the remotest chance that you might want to send it in?