The future of Ghostbusters 3 was briefly in doubt following the death last month of Harold Ramis, the Ghostbusters co-creator and the actor behind Egon Spengler. But Sony is pushing ahead with the sequel, albeit without Ivan Reitman returning as director, as was originally planned.

Reitman explained his decision to vacate the director post in a lengthy interview with Deadline:

"It's a version of Ghostbusters that has the originals in a very minor role. … When I came back from Harold's funeral, it was really moving and it made me think about a lot of things. I'd just finished directing Draft Day, which I'm really happy with and proud of. Working on a film that is smaller and more dramatic was so much fun and satisfying. I just finally met with [Sony's Amy Pascal] and Doug Belgrad when I got back. I said I'd been thinking about it for weeks, that I'd rather just produce this Ghostbusters. I told them I thought I could help but let's find a really good director and make it with him. So that's what we've agreed will happen. I didn't want all kinds of speculation about what happened with me, that is the real story."

He added that the search is now on for a new director, as well as a cast to play the new generation of Ghostbusters.

"I'm not going to say how many Ghostbusters there will be in the new cast, but we are determined to retain the spirit of the original film, and I am pleased that all of this seems to have happened organically," Reitman said. "I'm hoping we can get started by the fall, set in New York, but given the logistics and the stuff that happens, the beginning of 2015 seems more likely."