We all know that Ghostbusters 3 is not going to happen, because Bill Murray will waffle back and forth until everyone is dead and no one will be able to do the movie with actual ghosts. But that doesn't mean we can't report on new developments about it. It's like hearing your really fun cousin, Dan Aykroyd, talking about the awesome band he's in. It mysteriously never, ever seems to produce any kind of music, but he's having a great time talking about it.

And this time, he's talking about the "awesome new writer" they got to write songs for them: Etan Cohen, who wrote Tropic Thunder, Idiocracy, and Men In Black 3, has been hired to write a script for Ghostbusters 3.

Oh wait, I just realized that covering this movie amounts to insanity.

Cohen had a fair amount of success bringing Men In Black back to the big screen this summer, even though we kept hearing that movie was shooting without a finished script for a portion of its production. But hey! That's fun! Improvising a special-effects-laden alien movie? That's ambitious filmmaking! Either way, MIB3 was a draw enough to knock The Avengers from its billion-dollar, number one box office pedestal, and there's something to be said about that. (Even though the movie had been out for about a month at that point, but still.) But talk to anyone about a gem of a movie that was spot-on about the state of society and seen by nearly no one and they will say "Idiocracy." Cohen is a frequent collaborator of Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, both of which the former wrote for. He's also written for Seth MacFarlane's American Dad, so this is a guy trusted in several comedy circles. To say nothing of his work on the super-fun Tropic Thunder, co-written with Ben Stiller and Justin Theroux, both very trustworthy dudes. (I won't get into one of his next project, which is Candyland, which has Adam Sandler in it. Because Idiocracy, guys!)

He'll be replacing the previous duo tasked with writing this thing, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who wrote for The Office and were hired way back in 2008. It was their draft of the script that was unceremoniously -- and allegedly -- ripped to shreds by Murray.

While we are all still getting to know each other, here is some information about me, your new entertainment editor: Ghostbusters is my favorite movie of all time. Ghostbusters 2 is included in this. Oh good, you're still here. Some people don't like to hear that second part. This said, the idea of Ghostbusters 3 is both exciting and infuriating. On one hand, who wouldn't want to see all those guys get together again and bust ghosts that would probably look stupid-amazing considering the special effects we have now? On the other, this movie would have to be flawless. Flawless. Especially after we've been jerked around this many times, for this many years. And that means we need everyone on board in some capacity, and every cast member on camera in some shape or form.

I'm referring to Mr. Murray. I understand his trepidation about coming back, and as much as I'd love to see the Phantasmic Four reunited, I can't be all that upset if he ultimately shoots this down. But if he loved the script, gave it his blessing, and this thing rocks? Then man alive, some of us are really going to freak out.

No pressure, Etan Cohen. No pressure. (via Variety)]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/07/11/ghostbusters-3-etan-cohan.html/feed 36