The long-gestating Ghostbusters 3 project is reportedly going to start production in 2015, but without original director Ivan Reitman.

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According to Deadline , Reitman has decided he won't direct the film in the wake of the death of his close friend and Ghostbusters actor and co-writer Harold Ramis. While Ramis was the one constant in the Ghostbusters 3 equation, Reitman admits that he was never 100% sure of his own personal involvement, and his friend's death escalated his decision to step down. He will help Sony's Amy Pascal find a replacement for the much awaited third entry in the series, which is being billed as a reboot.“There has been all kinds of stuff, unofficially written about Ghostbusters,” Reitman told the site. “I’ve been reading things online for about four years, speculation on who’s writing, what they’re writing, who’s in it, who we will use, and who’s directing. We’d decided not to comment up till now, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, and it was never clear what Bill [Murray] was going to do. A lot of things happened in the last few months, the most significant of which was the passing of Harold, who was a very good friend who was extraordinarily influential in my career."The Ghostbusters 3 screenplay has gone through a number of changes since original Ghostbuster Murray declined to be involved in the project, but now Reitman, screenwriter Etan Cohen and original co-writer Dan Akyroyd have assembled a draft that "the studio is very excited about."“It’s a version of Ghostbusters that has the originals in a very minor role," said Reitman. "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 Amy 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."Reitman is already working on a short list of directors for the job, with an eye to beginning production in 2015.“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.“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.”

Lucy O'Brien is Entertainment Editor at IGN AU. Follow her ramblings on IGN or Twitter.