How many more Ghostbusters movies do we need? Trick question

We don’t need any more Ghostbusters movies.

But nostalgia is a tricky son of a gun that wants us to relive the moments that brought us sheer joy in our childhood and adolescence over and over and over. Combine that with the sheer Pavlovian greed of Hollywood to repeat ideas that have proven successful until far long after they’ve stopped proving that, and well, here we go again.

Barely a month after Sony Pictures announced it had a deal with director Paul Feig to reboot the Ghostbusters film franchise — and a full 25 years after Ghostbusters II had made Bill Murray wary of ever putting on that suit again — with an all-female cast of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones… Sony Pictures is not only moving forward with another Ghostbusters movie, but also a production company called Ghost Corps designed to expand the brand and the so-called “cinematic universe” even more into new merchandising opportunities.

As Ivan Reitman told Deadline on Monday:

“We want to expand the Ghostbusters universe in ways that will include different films, TV shows, merchandise, all things that are part of modern filmed entertainment. This is a branded entertainment, a scary supernatural premise mixed with comedy. Paul Feig’s film will be the first version of that, shooting in June to come out in July 2016. He’s got four of the funniest women in the world, and there will be other surprises to come. The second film has a wonderful idea that builds on that. Drew (Pearce) will start writing and the hope is to be ready for the Russo Brothers’ next window next summer to shoot, with the movie coming out the following year. It’s just the beginning of what I hope will be a lot of wonderful movies.”

Channing Tatum and his partners will produce with an expectation for Tatum to star as one of the newest busters of ghosts.

Reitman said he and Aykroyd had this planned all along, going back to the original 1984 movie and outlines.

But so, too, did George Lucas announce plans for nine Star Wars movies back then, too. And even after our collective disappointment over volumes I-III, here we find ourselves with the Internet media counting down the days and obsessing over every detail before Episode VII hits movie screens this Christmas holiday season. It’s just not necessary. None of it. Steven Spielberg reportedly wants to reboot the Raiders of the Lost Ark franchise with Chris Pratt as Indiana Jones or something to that effect, despite the fact that he’s already playing a better sci-fi version of Indy in the Guardians of the Galaxy! And 15 years after Zoolander, who’s really clamoring for another double-take of Blue Steel?

As long as they cannot let it go, though, and they can find enough of you willing to pay up to see an image that comforts you in familiarity, they’ll keep making it.

That’s show business.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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