An Animated ‘Ghostbusters’ Is in Development at Sony

There’s an old saying in Hollywood: “You can never have too many Ghostbusters movies.”

Sony already has Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters, that’s currently in production with stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon. And there’s been sporadic rumblings that Sony is also interested in a company ’Busters featuring an all-male cast, possibly with Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt. Those rumors got loud enough that producer (and original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman) actually released a statement insisting “There is only one new Ghostbusters movie and that is the Paul Feig directed version.”

That was accurate for about six weeks. Because now The Tracking Board reports that Sony is also working on an “animated Ghostbusters.” They claim this version of the property “will follow a similar logline to that of the 1984 original, in which a group of scientists team up to fight off ghosts, using gadgets and gizmos to capture the menacing ghouls who have invaded Manhattan.” A bold reimagining!

The Ghostbusters are no strangers to animation, having been the stars of an extremely popular TV series all through the mid and late 1980s called The Real Ghostbusters (a second show, Extreme Ghostbusters, followed in the late ’90s, and yes it was totally extreme). And Sony looks to be ramping up their animation slate with spinoffs of their most bankable properties; they’ve already got an animated Spider-Man movie in the works as well.

The next step for this project will be to find a writer to generate a story for the film. At this point, it’s years and years away from completion and release. So I guess Ivan Reitman’s quote is still technically true? Regardless, there are going to be many more Ghostbusters movies in the future. So, so many. Oh, the ghosts they shall bust. You will scarcely believe your PKE meters.