Columbia calls up a third Ghostbusters film

A third Ghostbusters film, reuniting original cast members such as Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, is in the works almost two decades after the last one appeared in theatres.

The sci-fi comedy which follows a team of ghost exterminators in New York City will also see the return of Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, who played the other two members of the team, according to Hollywood trade paper Variety.

The 1984 original set box office records for Columbia and was followed up by a 1989 sequel. While there have been talks over the years about making it a trilogy, contract demands kept the third film off the table.

Columbia Pictures has hired Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky two producers of the American version of Ricky Gervais sitcom The Office to marshal the film through.

John Landis, who worked with Aykroyd on The Blues Brothers and Trading Places, confirms the third movie will be made even though Columbia has remained silent about the news.

"I'm not involved, but I know it's happening," he told BBC News.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune got a peekat the plot from Ramis: "The concept is that the old Ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity. Not much else to say at this point. Everyone is confident a decent script can be written, and I guess we'll take it from there."