Dan Aykroyd Reveals ‘Ghostbusters’ TV Prequel Set In 1969

When reports first emerged of a new “Ghostbusters” sequel featuring the original cast, lost in the excitement was that star/screenwriter Dan Aykroyd and director/producer Ivan Reitman were teaming up to launch a new production company called Ghost Corps, dedicated to shepherding new “Ghostbusters”-themed content onto the screen.

During a recent interview with Canadian Press to promote his Crystal Head vodka, Aykroyd revealed that one of those projects is a prequel TV series, set in the late 1960s, called “Ghostbusters High”.

As he explained, the new series would delve into the ghost-busting origins of the original film’s three primary characters: Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis, who passed away in 2014).

According to the 66-year-old “SNL” alum, “I’ve written ‘Ghostbusters High’, where they meet in New Jersey in 1969 and we’re looking to do that as probably a glorified feature or pilot within the next maybe five years,” he said, adding that it “would lead to a television project… it’s a neat idea for a prequel. Imagine casting the three characters as teenagers!”

Aykroyd also shared some intel on the upcoming sequel. “[Original director] Ivan Reitman’s son Jason has written a beautiful script, I can’t say too much about it but it’s going to get made and hopefully there’ll be some familiar faces,” he teased while sharing his thoughts on the female-led “Ghostbusters” reboot that debuted in 2016.

“But I don’t want to discount the work that the girls did with Paul Feig. I kind of got mad, but I realized I should have blamed myself as a producer, the costs were out of control, I should have been watching as a producer a little more, but you don’t dispute with your director,” he added.

“You hire a director, you trust a director, you trust their vision. But the job that Kate [McKinnon] and Kristen [Wiig] and Leslie [Jones] and Melissa [McCarthy] did and indeed Paul did on that movie was superior, or superb. We would have done another one but, again, the cost overruns prevented the studio from looking at it and doing another ladies’ movie.”

Cost overruns, he promised, will not be a factor in the upcoming film. “Now we’re going to do it in a sensible way,” he added. “Costs will be under control and it’ll be brought in for a sensible budget without waste and that’s what’s important now in getting it made.”

Earlier this year, a brief teaser was released to reveal that fans can expect to see the film hit theatres in summer 2020.