Actor Murray starred in Ghostbusters, released in 1984, and its sequel

Two writers from the US version of The Office have been recruited to write a third instalment of Ghostbusters, according to trade newspaper Variety.

Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky's hiring is seen as a sure sign the long-mooted comedy will finally be made.

Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel saw Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as bumbling scientists who rid New York of paranormal threats.

It is hoped the new film will reunite the original cast.

Columbia Pictures has declined to comment on whether a third Ghostbusters was in development, Variety reported.

Computer game

But director John Landis, who worked with Aykroyd on The Blues Brothers and Trading Places, has said the film would definitely be made.

"I'm not involved but I know it's happening," he told the BBC News website at the Venice Film Festival.

Eisenberg and Stupnitsky recently collaborated with Ramis on the script for his new film Year One.

Last year the original Ghostbusters cast signed up to lend their faces and voices to a computer game based on the hit film series.

The game's storyline was being written by stars Aykroyd (Ray Stantz) and Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler), who also scripted the first two films.

But the game's future was thrown into doubt when publisher Activision announced it would not be releasing the finished product.

Developers Vivendi insisted the game had not been cancelled, and that it would be published by another company.



