“There was a period there when Paul Feig was engaging Sony in talks about Ghostbusters and we were also engaging them,” “Captain America: Civil War” co-director Joe Russo tells Forbes. “He was further along with his process than we were and he closed his deal so that’s the only Ghostbusters world that’s being explored right now over at Sony. Once we took ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ it took us off the table for any kind of any potential work on a Ghostbusters project.”
“Iron Man Three” screenwriter Drew Pearce had been hired by Sony to work on a "bible" for a non-Wiig/McCarthy Ghostbusters that Pearce hoped would star real-life buddies Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum – and last summer Pearce said he wanted his Ghostbusters movie to share a universe with Feig’s Ghostbusters.
“My personal inclination is to try and make everything occur in the same Ghostbusters universe, because I feel, as a fan, that’s what I would want,” Pearce told MTV at the “Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation” premiere in Manhattan. “Standing here in New York, you just wanna tie it all together. Whether that happens or not we’ll see, but I’ve certainly given them the tools to do that, I hope.”
Pearce fell short of saying that the shared universe would happen, but one does wonder how two teams of Ghostbusters would work. Would the Pratt and Tatum characters be copycats, ripping off Wiig and McCarthy’s copyrights and patents? Or would Pratt/Tatum just be working for the same giant corporate Orkin-like entity that employs the Wiig/McCarthy team as well?
Another question: If the Feig/Wiig “Ghostbusters” underperforms subsequent to its July 15 opening, will that make an eventual Tatum/Pratt “Ghostbusters” seem more or less viable in the eyes of Sony executives?
Russo’s “Avengers: Infinity War” won’t hit cinemas until 2019, so the folks at Sony will have plenty of time to ponder the notion.
Find all of Forbes’ interview with Russo here.
