^ I don't know about the fan fic was, but from what I have heard about Hellbent, it was nothing good. From what I heard, the biggest problem is that the original GBs take a very big backseat and focus on new GBs. Now, while that isn't a problem necessarily, the new characters were very bland, interchangeable, and were hardly developed (they didn't even have last names in the script). Granted, that could have changed in future drafts, but that does not sound like a promising start.
Hellbent was truly awful, awful enough that Ivan Reitman told Aykroyd that he'd rather jump off a bridge than shoot it. That it was never made is something for which I'm thankful every single day. I don't know how Eisenberg and Stupnitsky have written the "Venkman dies" plot, but it can't possibly be worse than how it was handled in
Hellbent.
But there are elements of it that
will be in
Ghostbusters 3, whether we like it or not. The biggest one is the "new crew."
Unfortunately, while we all want to see the original Ghostbusters back in action one last time, that's not what Sony wants. Sony has been very clear that if
Ghostbusters 3 is going to be made, it's going to be for the purpose of re-launching the franchise with a new cast, using the originals as supporting roles. Even Ramis admitted that in a recent interview on WGN; he said that the goal was to "rejuvenate" the franchise and take it in a new direction. We want a nostalgic trip down memory lane; Sony wants a new franchise it can pump out every few years and make some bucks. I'm guessing that's why Sony is now trying to push Reitman off the project; it wants a "comfortable," risk-free director to herald the new franchise (if it ever happens).
I remember reading somewhere that Ramis and Murray had a major fall out after they did Groundhog Day. I might be wrong though.
They had a major falling-out
during the production of
Groundhog Day. Murray's feeling was that the film should be a deep, philosophical drama with a lot of moralizing, while Ramis insisted that Murray play the role as written, as a comedy. This led to a lot of heated exchanges on the set, culminating in a final blow-up immediately after production wrapped, and they didn't speak to one another for more than ten years.
That tiff, by the way, is how the whole "Venkman dies in
Ghostbusters III" idea came about. Ages ago, a reporter asked Murray about the potential of doing another sequel. He said, "Sure, tell Harold I'll do it if they kill me in the first reel." It figures that an offhand joke has become the one plot element that has existed in every single script permutation over the last several years.
