Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum Could Still be GHOSTBUSTERS

A while ago it was revealed that as well as Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot, Sony were also working on another entry in the franchise which would star Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum. As the former’s has a female cast, this was being dubbed the “male-led version,” which is slightly strange to type. It’s a strange concept, too, and feels as if Sony are too unconfident in a blockbuster movie with four main female leads so they wanted to revert back to a more “traditional” cast. They were also apparently set in different universes. Lame.

“No one has ever even spoken to me about that. Never. I’ve even seen Channing a couple times. As far as I know, that’s complete bullshit.”

Some choice words from Chris Pratt on the matter a few months ago. You’d think that would have put the final nail in the coffin for this rumour, but like the ‘busters, it’s back! Writer Drew Pearce was chatting about it at the premiere of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation recently and revealed to MTV that he’s already completed his work on the project.

“I’ve finished my work on that in the last couple weeks. Obviously it’s top secret, but there’s a gigantic bold idea that I came up with, and the Russo brothers — who did Captain America: The Winter Soldier and are doing Civil War at the moment — and Ivan Reitman, who did the original movie, are going to take that and run with it. Obviously I cannot tell you what it is, but hopefully in one year’s time you’ll know!”

This is weird, because Pearce confirms that the Russos are still working on the project. The duo have a deal with Sony and when the hack happened late last year some emails revealed that they had offered to help get Spider-Man back on its feet and work on Ghostbusters movies – even though they let slip that they were in contention to direct the two-part Avengers: Infinity War movie, which has since been confirmed. How the fuck are they gonna have time for Ghostbusters?!

The same can also be said for Tatum and Pratt, as apparently he still wants them involved somehow.

“That’s definitely the cast we’ve been thinking about as we approach the project. Whether that happens or not is very much above my pay grade. It’s just my job to give them something exciting that maybe they’ll do.”

Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum are both incredibly busy guys. Pratt is filming Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence this September – an indie sci-fi movie which has kinda ballooned into a more big-budget one – as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 shooting next spring and then Jurassic World 2, The Lego Movie 2 and Infinity War (he isn’t confirmed for that but you can bet your ass Star-Lord is showing up in both parts). That’s four major franchises in production over the span of 2-3 years and I really doubt he’ll want to add another one to his list.

Tatum, meanwhile, is on the verge of dropping out of Gambit, the X-Men spin-off which was supposed to start filming this October, and he’s also got a directorial debut and the 23 Jump Street/Men in Black crossover coming up, although when that will shoot is anybody’s guess. He is admittedly the less busy of the two and could do Ghostbusters, but would he want to?

Just like all of us, Pearce wants his movie to be set in the same universe as Feig’s. It makes the most sense – where’s the logic in making two different reboots of one property and putting them in different universes?

“My personal inclination is to try and make everything occur in the same ’Ghostbusters’ universe, because I feel, as a fan, that’s what I would want. Standing here in New York, you just wanna tie it all together. Whether that happens or not we’ll see, but I’ve certainly given them the tools to do that, I hope.”

To cut a long story short, a second Ghostbusters movie is back on the menu. The prospect of Pratt and Tatum bustin’ ghosts is admittedly tantalising and I think they’d get along well together, but whether it’ll actually end up happening is anybody’s guess. For now, there is something just resembling a ball which is rolling.