According to an interview with MTV, Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two Ghostbusters movies and some misfires such as My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and the David Duchovny starrer Evolution, will indeed return to direct the third film in the Ghostbusters franchise. He also mentioned that the first draft script from Year One writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky is completed and they are currently at work on another draft.

Regarding rumors from stars Harold Ramis, who said the movie is hopefully to be filmed in time for a 2011 release, and Sigourney Weaver who said Bill Murray’s character would be returning as a ‘Slimer’-like ghost, Reitman kept silent saying he didn’t want to talk about what “cool things” were in the script or what may have been said about it. He did say that he’s hoping to film sometime in the coming year, which fits with hopefully having the movie out next year.

Ghostbusters 3 is set to definitely star Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver with Murray, Annie Potts and the retired Rick Moranis all rumored to be returning as well. The story is supposedly about the older generation of Ghostbusters handing the reins over to a younger generation including, again according to Weaver, her movie son ‘Oscar’ who should be all grown-up now.

Ghostbusters is one of those films that’s simply timeless. Sure, the special effects are a little iffy these days but the story and comedic beats are still perfect. On the other hand  Ghostbusters 2 didn’t quite hit the mark for most people. That being the case, it’s hard to decide which way a third film may fall.  Would it live up to the original or become a parody of itself like the sequel?

It’s hard to imagine anything being as good as the original. However, I think some sort of transition film, in which a younger Ghostbuster team takes the place of the originals, could work. Original Ghostbuster Harold Ramis thinks so too:

“Something’s going to happen. Dan [Aykroyd] did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it. Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel. We’ll introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too. Think Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future … GB3 is progressing with plans to shoot next summer and release in 2011. . . “

So there you have it, right from Egon’s mouth.  Ghostbusters 3 is on track to production and will probably set up a new franchise. The original spec script by Dan Aykroyd Ramis referred to was Ghostbusters Go To Hell which probably wouldn’t work to well. As such, co-executive producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky from The Office TV series have been tasked with writing a new script.

Hmm, Ghostbusters meets Dunder-Mifflin?  Sounds crazy, but it may just work.

Well, it certainly didn’t suck. That’s me, eating a little crow.  For months I have snickered about the colossal disaster I was sure Avatar was going to become. Admit it, you thought so too. How on earth could you not be pessimistic after seeing the early trailers?

Alien creatures a hue of blue so intense it would make papa smurf puke, and waxy humans that would beat any of Robert Zemeckis’s early efforts for “most soulless rendition of a human being” did not exactly instill confidence in me. Then came the daunting news that the movie weighed in at almost 3 hours. Add the driving time in and the Avatar screening took up almost half a day. I disliked the movie before I even slipped on the  exquisite 3-D nerd-spectacles that I so love.

A funny thing happened when the movie began. I was captivated. I rarely looked at my watch, and the three hours kept me glued to my seat. I became completely immersed in the alternate reality that James Cameron (Titanic) created, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Now, I am not jumping aboard the fanboy express like 90% of the critics I know. This  is not the end-all, be-all of epic movies.  I don’t think that it will “change the way we watch movies forever”, and I hope it doesn’t quite frankly.

As a stand alone experience, I absolutely recommend Avatar, but I won’t be going to the theater for repeated viewings. Avatar is innovative and visually spectacular, but its story and woeful dialogue keep it from being a truly great movie.  However, I will give James Cameron props for once again delivering a truly ground-breaking experience.

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With critics and other people around the Internets finally having a chance to see James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar this week, more footage is pooping up online as well. Case in point is these six clips from the film that are now online, as discovered by our pals at Coming Soon.

The six clips give you a pretty good idea about how the film begins and what happens during the first 30 or so minutes. In them you see how Sam Worthington’s character, Jake, comes to planet Pandora, meets the human military and scientific personnel stationed there, gets his Avatar body and his mission and then heads out into the wilderness to accomplish that mission.

If you like to go into a movie like this without having much knowledge of it, these clips won’t help you accomplish that. If you do like to know something about a film before seeing it, go ahead and click on the links after the jump to watch these six clips and it will be “mission accomplished.” Sadly, we can’t embed them for you here so you will have to click through to watch them at YouTube.

Oh, one more thing. If you do want to watch these, I suggest you hurry before they are all gone — as sometimes happens with “leaks” like this. Avatar opens December 18.

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Last night in Austin at Fantastic Fest producer Jon Landau screened footage from Jim Cameron’s upcoming major motion picture Avatar. Having not managed to see the footage at Comic-Con in San Diego and having not made it to Avatar day either, I was obviously curious to see what all the fuss was about. So, with a packed house of over 200, I watched several scenes from the film. Some already screened and some never before shown.

Don’t worry, I won’t be doing a review of the film based on this footage — I’ll save that until I see the entire film. However, I will render a few opinions on the footage, characters, action and the 3-D process I did see. My opinion can be summed up in one word: interesting. I know that probably doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement but if you’ve followed my opinion on 3-D on The Flickcast podcast or here at the site, you know I’m not really a fan of this 3-D resurgence.

That said, I can tell you that the 3-D of Avatar is probably the best I’ve ever seen. The effect is pretty seamless and Cameron obviously knows his way around the process. Some of the scenes on the planet Pandora, in particular one where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) as his Avatar has to tame a flying beast and bend its will so he can fly it, was outstanding. The sweeping vistas of Pandora, which would probably have looked great in 2-D, were made even more spectacular with the added third dimension.

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This past Friday was a pretty new and exciting day for the cinema, as most dubbed it “Avatar Day” because 20th Century Fox ran free screenings of select clips from James Cameron’s highly anticipated film in 3D IMAX theaters across the country. There were roughly six clips totaling about 15 minutes. Cameron made an appearance at the beginning of the clips (in 3D, of course) and introduced the scenes.

Not much was known about the film, let alone the premise, leading up to “Avatar Day,” so it was nice to get an idea of the story. From what was gathered, the film takes place in the 21st century, when mankind is at war with the alien race known as the Na’vi. They enlist people to fight on the warring planet, but before they are dropped off, they go through a process which places them in an alien body, or their “avatar”.

From there, the main character Jake Sully (played by Terminator: Salvation’s Sam Worthington) embarks on a journey of this new and beautiful world, and discovers that he may be fighting for the wrong side. The story is pretty old-hat, which most people could remember as the main plot from 2003’s The Last Samurai.

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With thousands of fans across the country getting to see 16 minutes of James Cameron’s Avatar in select theaters, the studio is still giving the rest of us a peak at this mysterious film. The first teaser trailer went live today, though in French, shows us the world that the Titanic director conjured up.

The film, starring Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation), Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, and Stephen Lang (Public Enemies) is a sci-fi adventure about a hero who helps save a civilization, and “embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery” along the way.

Cameron initially had the idea for this film 14 years ago, but the technology wasn’t available for him to produce it properly. Finally, when pre-production began, the project took 4 years to finish, and this winter, we’ll finally get to see it. Check out the trailer after the jump. 20th Century Fox’s Avatar hits IMAX and 3-D theaters December 18 of this year.

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The first full day at San Diego’s Comic-Con featured revelations and first looks at Tron Legacy, New Moon, Alice in Wonderland and a little film called Avatar. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? James Cameron offered fans an impressive 24 minute 3-D screening of his forthcoming, highly-anticipated film, and by all accounts, especially SciFiWire’s, the material more than lives up to heavy expectations.

The footage clearly impressed the crowd, who made no secret of their appreciation of what they saw. Cameron seemed quite pleased by this and told the crowd, “Everybody always asks: So where’ve you been? Well, that’s where I’ve been. Pandora.”

Avatar’s preview centered around Jake (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic grunt who enlists for the military’s avatar program, which allows the personality of humans to be projected into clones of the Na’vi people, an indigenous race of alien creatures. Once on the surface of Pandora, Jake gets into trouble with native creatures, is reluctantly befriended by a female Na’vi native named Natiri (Zoe Saldana) and learns how to mindmeld and control a pterodactyl-like monster.

Cameron also revealed that 15 minutes of material will available for free at IMAX 3D and regular 3-D theaters across the globe on August 21.

Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana and Giovanni Ribisi and will be released on December 18, 2009.

Oh to be in Amsterdam this week. No, not just for the friendly people, the Heineken beer brewery tour or the many other exotic attractions. There’s another reason Amsterdam was the place to be this week: James Cameron screened 24 minutes of his upcoming film Avatar at the Cinema Expo there. The Audiences reaction to the footage? The words “jaw-dropping”, for example, were used several times in the description over at Coming Soon.

Flanked by the films stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang, Cameron himself introduced the footage declaring that the 3D renaissance had arrived. Also according to the tipster at Coming Soon, the footage “utilized the RealD XL Cinema System. The 3D presentation was on a 55-foot screen with nearly 10-foot Lamberts of light, delivering the largest and brightest 3D presentation at Cinema Expo.” Nice.

Cameron also released two more images from the film to help build the hype. Obviously, we’re eager to see the movie, which rumor says will be featured in a panel and possible screening of some of the footage at Comic-Con next month. We’ve also heard that Cameron is trying to get Hall H at the San Diego Convention Center rigged for 3-D projection to screen the footage. If so, I think you better start lining up now if you want to see it.

Avatar hits theaters in December. Check out the bigger images after the jump.

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With all the reboots, rumors of reboots, sequels and prequels coming out of Hollywood lately it should come as no surprise that there’s now talk and rumors of yet another one. According to Bloody Disgusting, the latest franchise getting the reboot treatment is the 1979 horror/sci-fi classic Alien. Yes, the movie that coined the cool catchphrase “In space no one can hear you scream” and showcased a young Sigourney Weaver in her underwear is reportedly going to get the reboot treatment.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon your opinion, it seems Ridley Scott will be involved in the reboot but will only serve as one of the producers, not the director. Taking on the directing chores is first-time feature director Carl Rinsch, who has at least supposedly cut his teeth directing commercials for Ridley and Tony Scott and their Scott Free Productions company.

In case you might not be familiar with original Alien (If not, go rent it) the story starts when the crew of a spacecraft intercepts a transmission from an unknown planet and decides to investigate. Once there they discover an alien creature that has evolved into the perfect killing machine. One by one each of the crew members are killed until only Weaver’s Ripley is left to destroy the terrifying and deadly creature. But how will she be able to do it all alone?

Seeing as this story is only in the rumor stages (Although it does make sense) we will, of course, keep you posted on any new developments. Until then, feel free to enjoy the trailer for the original Alien after the jump.

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