Ghostbusters III Confirmed

I guess it's been confirmed that there will be a third Ghostbusters movie, scheduled for release some time in 2012. Now, I grew up with the Ghostbusters, saw both movies, watched the animated spinoff series, played the video games, bought the merchandise, and so on. And while there were "ghosts" of rumors about a third movie, nothing seemed to have materialized until now. Perhaps because no one could come up with any plausible plot ideas for the third movie - not Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd or Harold Ramis, or even Ivan Reitman (director of the first two Ghostbusters movies). Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (script gurus of "The Office" and "Year One") have apparently written a plot that Aykroyd says "really works".

While the plot details are still rather sketchy, the basic idea is that the Ghostbusters have become so successful in despatching the ghosts in Manhattan that they are now out of business. There might be an opportunity for the Ghostbusters at Manhattan's "dark underworld", Manhellan (or something like that), where a portal has opened up at Foley Square. Dana Barrett's son, Oscar, will most likely be appearing in the movie too. (Dana Barret is the character played by Sigourney Weaver for those who didn't know.) There might be a team of new recruits, all female, who are ill-trained but eager to do their part in ridding Manhattan of its ghostly inhabitants. The original team will still appear in the movie, but briefly, since Aykroyd is hoping for more of a "passing-of-the-torch movie".

That is only a synopsis of the basic plot, based on the ideas and snippets that have been released, so I guess we'll have to wait until something more concrete is revealed or until the movie itself.

That said, I don't think I agree with the concept of having a "new generation" of Ghostbusters in this case, especially if they are going to be the main characters of the movie, with the original team members having just a cameo appearance. There's nothing wrong with training raw recruits before the original Ghostbusters' retirement, but that should be a reference point throughout the movie, where the original team works alongside the new team. And then if there were to be any further movies for the Ghostbusters franchise, their primary focus should be on the new recruits. After all, there are so many reports of paranormal activity to draw upon for those plots.

Speculation and opinion aside, I most likely will be viewing Ghostbusters III at the movie theater, but until then will be watching for further updates to see how it all progresses.