The Ghostbusters franchise has seen many iterations since its debut in 1984 with the beloved supernatural comedy. In addition to a 1989 sequel, the franchise has also spawned a 2016 reboot, multiple animated series, comics and video games, and now, a third film in the main series, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The new release continues the story of the 1984 original, and brings to an end a decades-long effort to produce Ghostbusters 3.
While Afterlife covers all the bases in terms of nostalgia and story beats, this film wasn't the first attempt to return to the original's universe. Officially announced in 1999, Ghostbusters III: Hellbent was a passion project of actor Dan Aykroyd that never got off the ground. Here's what we know about the doomed project.
The Ghostbusters Were Headed to Hell - Sort Of
The first draft of Ghostbusters III: Hellbent was finished in 1999 by Aykroyd, who first publicly mentioned five years earlier that he had an idea for the film. The complete story hasn't been revealed, over the years a rough idea of the plot has congealed: The Ghostbusters, now significantly older, would have ventured into a previously unexplored spirit realm. The original film wasn't afraid to mirror scripture, specifically, The Book of Revelation, with the influx of paranormal activity preceding the return of Gozer. In Aykroyd's third installment, the parallel goes even further by introducing a version of Hell.
Certain aspects of the film stick out as something genuinely ambitious, such as its interpretation of Hell, which is more like a film negative, charged with dark energy. The Ghostbusters travel to the Hell version of Manhattan, called Manhellton, because the realm has become overfilled and is spilling ghosts into New York City. Another interesting aspect is that the team was also going to meet the Devil, who is described as a Donald Trump-like character named Luke Sifler (Lucifer).
Chris Farley Was Among the Actors Eyed for Ghostbusters III
In the years of planning, Hellbent was framed as a passing of the torch, similar to Ghostbusters: Afterlife. While the original team would still be present in some capacity, many ideas were floating around over who would be the team's successors. Early in the writing process, Chris Farley was heavily considered for a role as a Ghostbuster. Following Farley's death in 1997, Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wen in a different direction, considering actors like Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber) and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld).
The film's goal was to have these Ghostbusters, who work as part of a Ghostbusting corporation headed by Ray Stantz, carry on from the original team, following their hellish adventure. Even more names were thrown around as the years continued, such as Chris Rock and Ben Stiller. However, the film never got off the ground soon enough, causing these plans to fall through.
Bill Murray Would Only Join Ghostbusters III On One Condition
Throughout the many drafts of Hellbent, the one constant was that Bill Murray had no interest in returning as Peter Venkman. There was even a report that Murray refused a five-minute walk-on role, which led Aykroyd to work on the script without Venkman. Ultimately, it boiled down to a poor script that would need a lot of work. When Murray finally indicated he would consider participating, it was on one condition: Venkman had to be killed off early in the film, and remain a ghost for its duration. That demand ultimately didn't matter, however, because Ghostbusters III: Hellbent never made it out of pre-production.
Casting Wasn't The Only Reason Ghostbusters III Was Shelved
Ghostbusters III: Hellbent was an ambitious undertaking that would likely have made the film among the biggest special effects extravaganzas of its time. However, fate had other plans. While it would seem like casting issues would be the only reason it failed to launch, there was another component that kept the team from busting ghosts again.
A major factor was Hellbent's projected budget of $120 million (nearly $200 million in today's money). Following the box-office success of the following the phenomenon of The Blair Witch Project, which cost somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000, Sony Pictures wanted to try a similar approach with Ghostbusters III. Unfortunately, that was the final nail in the coffin for the project.