Ghostbusters (franchise)

Ghostbusters is a science fiction series created by in 1984. The first film was Ghostbusters , which was released on , by . The film became a pop culture phenomenon, leading to two sequels, 3 television shows, various video games and other merchandise.

After the release of Ghostbusters, various other Ghostbusters products were developed including a novel, a comic series, video games, action figures, trading cards, and other merchandise, all set within the fictional Ghostbusters reality. In 2007, the overall revenue generated by the entire Ghostbusters franchise (over the course of its history) is at around US $, making it one of the most successful franchises

Development

The concept was inspired by Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal, and it was conceived by Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi. The original story as written by Aykroyd was much more ambitious—and unfocused—than what would be eventually filmed; in Aykroyd's original vision, a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts (of which the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many). Also, the Ghostbusters wore S.W.A.T.-like outfits and used wands instead of Proton Packs to fight the ghosts; Ghostbusters storyboards show them wearing riotsquad-type helmets with movable transparent visors.

Aykroyd pitched his story to director / producer Ivan Reitman, who liked the basic idea but immediately saw the budgetary impossibilities demanded by Aykroyd's first draft. At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Ramis hammered out over the course of a few months in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter (according to Ramis on the DVD Commentary Track for the movie). Aykroyd and Ramis initially wrote the script with roles written especially for Belushi, Eddie Murphy and John Candy. However, Belushi died due to a drug overdose during the writing of the screenplay, and neither Murphy nor Candy could commit to the movie due to prior engagements, so Aykroyd and Ramis shifted some of these changes around and polished a basic, yet sci-fi oriented screenplay for their final draft.

In addition to Aykroyd's high-concept basic premise and Ramis' skill at grounding the fantastic elements with a realistic setting, the film benefits from Bill Murray's semi-improvisational performance as Peter Venkman, the character initially intended for Belushi. The extent of Murray's improvisation while delivering his lines varies wildly with every re-telling of the making of the film; some say he never even read the script, and improvised so much he deserves a writing credit, while others insist that he only improvised a few lines, and used his deadpan comic delivery to make scripted lines seem spontaneous.

With the first DVD release of the film on the 15th anniversary of the original theatrical release, many original concepts of the film were revealed, based on the storyboard artwork: Louis Tully was originally to be a conservative man in a business suit played by comedian John Candy, but Candy was unable to commit to the role. The role was taken by Rick Moranis, portraying Louis as a geek. Gozer was originally going to appear in the form of Ivo Shandor as a slender, unremarkable man in a suit played by Paul Reubens. In the end, the role was played by Yugoslavian model Slavitza Jovan, whose Eastern European accent (later dubbed by Paddi Edwards) caused "choose and perish" to sound like "Jews and berries".

Gozer's temple was the biggest and most expensive set ever to be constructed at that time. In order to properly light it and create the physical effects for the set, other stages needed to be shut down and all their power diverted over to the set. The hallway sets for the Sedgewick Hotel were originally built for the movie Rich and Famous in 1981 and patterned after the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, where Reitman originally wanted to do the hotel bust. The Biltmore Hotel was chosen because the large lobby allowed for a tracking shot of the Ghostbusters in complete gear for the first time. Dana Barrett and Louis Tully's apartments were constructed across two stages and were actually on the other side of their doors in the hallway, an unusual move in filmmaking.

A problem arose during filming when it was discovered that a show was produced in 1975 by Filmation for CBS called The Ghost Busters, starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker. (It should be noted that this show's title is written as two words instead of one word like the 1984 movie.) Columbia Pictures prepared a list of alternative names just in case the rights could not be secured, but during the filming of the crowd for the final battle, the extras were all chanting "Ghostbusters", which inspired the producers to insist that the studio buy the rights to the name. For the test screening of Ghostbusters, half of the ghost effects were missing, not yet having been completed by the production team. The audience response was still enthusiastic, and the ghost elements were completed for the official theatrical release shortly thereafter.

Characters

Ramis has stated that Slimer was jokingly referred to as "the ghost of John Belushi".)

Discuss characters and portrayal/their development. Who were the actors? Who were voice actors?

Mention various ghosts used and where they came from in myth et cetera.

Technology

The proton packs' particle throwers were originally portrayed as wands worn on each arm. Winston Zeddemore was written with Eddie Murphy in mind, but he had to decline the role as he was filming Beverly Hills Cop at the same time. When Murphy had the role, Zeddemore was going to be hired much earlier in the film, and would accompany the trio on their hunt for Slimer at the hotel and be slimed in place of Peter Venkman. When Ernie Hudson took over, it was decided that he be brought in later to indicate how the Ghostbusters were struggling to keep up with the outbreak of ghosts.

How'd they come up with it? What is it?

Movies

Ghostbusters

Main article: Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters 2

Main article: Ghostbusters 2

Ghostbusters 3

Main article: Ghostbusters 3

Ghostbusters III is a planned sequel to the original Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. During his interview with CISN Country[1], Dan Aykroyd announced that Ghostbusters III: Hellbent will be CGI. "I can do all the things I wanted to do for much, much less money," he stated. The plot involves the Ghostbusters traveling to hell. Aykroyd wrote the script. Bill Murray has agreed to voice a character, reprising his role as wisecracking Peter Venkman from the first two films, and Harold Ramis is already attached.There have been rumors of a third Ghostbusters film for years. The idea of a "young Ghostbusters" film was circulated in the 90s with names like Will Smith and Ben Stiller tossed around. Hellbent, however, sounds more like an all-star, big budget version of The Real Ghostbusters animated series from the 1980s. Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and starred in the first two films. There's no word yet on a release date or whether this project will hit theaters or go straight to DVD.

Video games

1. Ghostbusters II, the 1990 Activision videogame
2. New Ghostbusters II, the the 1990 HAL Laboratory videogame
3. Ghostbusters (Sega video game), the 1990 SEGA videogame.
4. The Real Ghostbusters, the 1993 Activision videogame
5. Extreme Ghostbusters, the 2001 LSP videogame
6. Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1, the 2002 DreamCatcher videogame
7. Extreme Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Invasion, the 2004 LSP videogame

Ghostbusters (Activision video game)

Main article: Ghostbusters (Activision video game)

Real Ghostbusters (arcade game)

Main article: Real Ghostbusters (arcade game)

The Real Ghostbusters was an arcade game based on the cartoon series of the same name released by Data East in 1987. The game was later ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum. Up to three players can control members of the Ghostbusters. The characters are only differentiated by the colors of their uniforms, no effort is made to identify them, although the game's marquee art shows the characters from the cartoon.

The Ghostbusters fight off hordes of nightmarish creatures with energy guns which reduce the monsters to harmless ghosts which can then be captured with beams from their proton packs. Power-ups available included stronger basic shoots, a force field that makes the Ghostbuster invincible for several seconds, and an item that summons Slimer to throw himself in the way of attacks.

Ghostbusters II (video game)

Main article: Ghostbusters II (video game)

Ghostbusters (Sega video game)

Main article: Ghostbusters (Sega video game)

Ghostbusters (2007 game)

Main article: Ghostbusters (2007 game)

Ghostbusters III is a planned sequel to the original Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. During his interview with CISN Country[1], Dan Aykroyd announced that Ghostbusters III: Hellbent will be CGI. "I can do all the things I wanted to do for much, much less money," he stated. The plot involves the Ghostbusters traveling to hell. Aykroyd wrote the script.

Bill Murray has agreed to voice a character, reprising his role as wisecracking Peter Venkman from the first two films, and Harold Ramis is already attached. There have been rumors of a third Ghostbusters film for years. The idea of a "young Ghostbusters" film was circulated in the 90s with names like Will Smith and Ben Stiller tossed around. Hellbent, however, sounds more like an all-star, big budget version of The Real Ghostbusters animated series from the 1980s. Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and starred in the first two films. There's no word yet on a release date or whether this project will hit theaters or go straight to DVD.

Games and merchandise

The film spawned a theme park special effects show at Universal Studios Florida. (The show closed some time in 1997 to make way for Twister: Ride it Out!) The Ghostbusters were also featured in a lip-synching dance show featuring Beetlejuice on the steps of the New York Public Library facade at the park after the attraction closed. The GBs were all new and "extreme" versions in the show, save for the Zeddemore character. Their Ecto-1 automobile was used to drive them around the park, and was often used in the park's annual "Macy's Holiday Parade". The show, Ecto-1, and all other Ghostbuster trademarks were discontinued in 2005 when Universal failed to renew the rights for theme park use. Currently, the Ghostbuster Firehouse can still be seen near Twister, without its GB logo and "Engine 89" ribbon. A "paranormal investigator" etching on a nearby doorway hints at the old show.

NECA released a line of action figures based on the first movie but only produced a series of ghost characters, as Bill Murray refused the rights to use his facial likeness. Their first and only series included Gozer, Slimer (or Onionhead), the Terror Dogs, Vinz Clortho, and a massive Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, contrasting the diminutive figure that was in the original figure line. Ertl released a die-cast 1/25 scale Ectomobile, also known as Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' main transportation. iBooks published the novel Ghostbusters: The Return by Sholly Fisch and Rubies' Costumes has produced a Ghostbusters Halloween costume, consisting of a one-piece jumpsuit with logos and an inflatable Proton Pack.

Ghostbusters (role-playing game), mention costumes, toys, action figures, 3d books, coloring books, etc.

Music

Who you gonna call?

Literary adaptations

Comics

Ghostbusters legion comic series

Novels

Ghostbusters: The Return was a novel written by long-time science fiction writer Sholly Fisch in celebration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. Set two years after Ghostbusters II, the novel revolves around Peter Venkman running for mayor of New York City and an ancient entity trying to conquer the world by bringing urban legends to life. The book looks to be re-released in the near future, retitled Ghostbusters: Urban Legends.

Five years after the events of Ghostbusters II, the group finds themselves once again neck-deep in ghosts and ghouls as some of the most unsettling urban legends-like the hook-handed killer in Lovers' Lane and The Vanishing Hitchhiker-all come to deadly life! But the worst is yet to come for Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore-and quite possibly the people of New York: the Ghostbusters' leader, Peter Venkman, has been chosen by an independent political party to be their candidate¨for Mayor! With the city reeling under a supernatural reign of terror, can the Ghostbusters stop the arrival of an ancient fear-demon in time to save Election Day-or should Venkman start looking for another job already?

Cultural impact

Ghostbuster building. Parodies and fanworks.

External links

• The Real Ghostbusters at the Killer List of Videogames
• The Real Ghostbusters at MobyGames