[dropcap size=small]S[/dropcap]ony has seen a tremendous amount of confidential information reach the public due to emails and documents hacked by a group called Guardians of Peace, who threatened the movie studio for producing The Interview, which had its theatrical release canceled altogether. Now one of the latest strings of emails to come to light has revealed plans for a new Ghostbusters film co-starring Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt.
One of the emails discovered by The Daily Beast was sent on August 21 from Tatum to co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal, and was full of enthusiasm, to say the least:
“Let us show the world The DarkSide and let us fight it with all the glory and epicness of a HUGE BATMAN BEGINS MOVIE. I know we can make this a huge franchise. Fun adventure craziness. COME OONNNN!!!”
He has vision, so just go with it. Putting Tatum and Pratt in a spin-off/reboot of a beloved franchise like Ghostbusters would basically be printing money for the studio, as they are currently two of the hottest stars in Hollywood. Tatum has helped contribute to the massive success of the 21 Jump Street franchise (also for Sony); Pratt blasted off into superstardom after portraying Star Lord in this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and the two actors previously appeared together in 10 Years, which was produced by Tatum. It all makes too much sense not to work.
The day after Tatum’s email, co-president of production for Columbia Pictures Hannah Minghella sent an email to Pascal along with other Sony executives and reiterated Tatum’s idea while adding Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Anthony and Joe Russo to the mix:
“So…in a curious turn of events – the Russos and Channing want to develop Ghostbusters as a vehicle for Channing and Chris Pratt to do together. The Russos, Channing, and Reid have been brainstorming ideas and want to create a whole new mythology that would support multiple movies (the way that Nolan reinvented Batman). To be clear – the Russos want to produce (not direct) and while Channing and Chris are looking for a movie to do together they haven’t mentioned this to him yet because they weren’t sure how we’d react.”
The proposed film would be in addition to the Paul Feig-directed Ghostbusters film featuring a primarily female cast that is currently in development. Minghella continued:
“They want to make it simultaneously super scary while also super funny. They love the idea that they are mortal heroes who are believers in the paranormal and the only people who can defend mankind from a paranormal threat. I know we’re mid-negotiations with Paul [Feig].I’m not sure whether we’d ever develop two different version simultaneously. Joe Russo is open to the idea that both movies could be developed in partnership so they compliment [sic] one another within the same Ghostbusters universe. Apparently the Russos are very close to Paul and Joe suggested Paul could be attached to direct both. Personally I think it’s possible for the female version to co-exist with this other version so maybe they’re not mutually exclusive.”
That’s a lot to digest, but it looks like we could be getting two new Ghostbusters films in the near future, and hopefully more concrete details will be released in the coming months. Do you want to see Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum cross the streams? Tell us in the comments!
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill (ghost), Steve Carrel, Chris Pratt, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Kristen Wiig, Amy Pohler, Tina Fey, Bill Murray (ghost).
Bill Murray’s ghost constantly gets irritated by Jonah Hill’s ghost throughout the whole movie.