It seems to be the way things are going now but to be honest, I can’t really blame the studios for re-releasing classic movies back into cinemas. After seeing Back to the Future earlier in the year, and it becoming one of my all-time best cinematic experiences, I am well up for them putting movies that I’ve loved for so long back into the cinemas – especially ones that I missed as I was too young to see them the first time round!

I’ve mentioned BTTF above, next up we have Jurassic Park then only yesterday found out that Top Gun was coming back to the cinema and now we hear via a press release from Park Circus Films that Ghostbusters is set to get a remastered re-release in October over the Halloween period. Ghostbusters was released in 1984 and again my parents weren’t up for taking their four year old son along to see such a great movie but in 2011, I will get my chance!

Ghostbusters stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Annie Potts, Rick Moranis and is directed by Ivan Reitman.

The press release is below and I’ve also placed the original trailer for your viewing pleasure!

In an all-new Digital Cinema Presentation, 80′s cult classic GHOSTBUSTERS is back to save the world this Halloween.

Directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver, the film is about a trio of university parapsychologists in New York, who lose their research grant and decide to open their own business, ‘Ghostbusters’. They are soon summoned to investigate strange happenings in a Central Park West flat and discover that all of Manhattan is being besieged by other worldly demons. But will they manage to capture all the ghosts and save the Big Apple in time?

As well as boasting an impressive cast list, this much-loved sci-fi comedy is remembered for its selection of imaginative ghost effects – in particular ‘Slimer’ and the ‘Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man’.

On its original release in 1984, the film was a hit with both audiences and critics. It won a BAFTA Award (Best Original Song) for Ray Parker Jr.’s theme tune and was also nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Effects – Visual Effects, Best Music – Original Song).

GHOSTBUSTERS will be back in cinemas worldwide this October.

Who you gonna call?

Maybe Bill Murray, maybe not.

Bloody Disgusting report that Dan Aykroyd, the man so awesome he’s had a band named in his honour (Dananananaykroyd), has said that Ghostbusters III will be going into production in early 2012, with or without Bill Murray.

His hope is of course that Murray will be joining him for the project, which is expected to see Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, and hopefully Murray re-teaming with director Ivan Reitman for the first Ghostbusters film since 1989.

A third film has been a possibility for more than a decade, and it seems that Murray’s dislike for sequels has meant that his cooperation with the project has stalled a number of times over the years. As such, Aykroyd seems to be sending out a pretty clear message now that whether Murray’s on board or not, the film is going to be going ahead as of spring 2012.

“Yes, we will be doing the movie and hopefully with Mr. Murray. That is our hope. We have an excellent script. What we have to remember is that ‘Ghostbusters’ is bigger than any one component, although Billy was absolutely the lead and contributive to it in a massive way, as was the director and Harold [Ramis], myself and Sigourney [Weaver]. The concept is much larger than any individual role and the promise of ‘Ghostbusters 3′ is that we get to hand the equipment and the franchise down to new blood.”

That final sentence seems to suggest to me that we could have a Ghostbusters IV in store for us a few years later, but it’s of course a bit too early to speculate about that with the third film yet to even begin production. Firm plot details are yet to surface, but Aykroyd has given away a bit about his character and the original cast handing down their roles to a younger generation:

“My character, Ray, is now blind in one eye and can’t drive the Cadillac… He’s got a bad knee and can’t carry the packs… Egon is too large to get into the harness. We need young blood and that’s the promise. We’re gonna hand it to a new generation.”

And he’s already got his eye on one young actor for the film:

“I like this guy Matthew Gray Gubler from the ‘Criminal Minds’ show… But there’s going to be a casting. We’re going to see everyone that wants to do it. We’re going to need… three guys and a young woman.”

Gubler is best known for playing Dr. Spencer Reid in TV’s Criminal Minds, as well as playing one of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s friends in (500) Days of Summer. As Aykroyd says, it’s just his personal opinion, and there are still going to be auditions held for all the young actors and actresses that want a shot at taking on the franchise. With production planned for early next year, we’ll hopefully be hearing some firm casting news in the coming months, so watch this space.

Paramount’s latest rom-com is parading itself in UK cinemas as from tomorrow, and there’s no better time to sit down with the man Natalie Portman wants to get physical with in Ivan Reitman’s film.

Cary Elwes, Lake Bell, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby and Greta Gerwig star alongside Kutcher and Portman, and you can read what we thought of the film here.

Synopsis: A guy (Kutcher) and girl (Portman) try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

James Kleinmann caught up with Kutcher to talk all things rom and all things com,

No matter the type of journey, rom-coms follow the same pattern: meet-cute, have fun together, disruption/problem occur, time passes, then they meet again,  realise they love each other and get together again.

No Strings Attached tries to deviate from usual rom-com routine but unfortunately the final conclusion still remains the same. Natalie Portman plays Emma, an emotionally unavailable woman who doesn’t understand the need to be in a relationship when you can just have fun and be happy. Ashton Kutcher’s character, Adam, is the opposite, but desperate to be with Emma he agrees to a no strings attached/friends with benefits/fun buddies/sex buddies/f**k buddies relationship. However as time goes by they find themselves falling in love with each other and Adam must convince Emma that a relationship is worth the risk.

No Strings Attached opens strong by showing us the first time Emma and Adam meet as teenagers at a summer camp, and shortly after we cut to a scene five years later when they finally meet again. After a series of random meets they exchange numbers, and on an alcoholic fuelled night out Adam drunk dials Emma and wakes up in on her sofa naked, only modestly covered by a tea towel. Adam, having recently got out of a relationship, and Emma who recently started working at the hospital, decide that relationships complicate things so agree to just be friends with benefits.

The problem is that even if it wasn’t a rom-com with preview screenings over Valentine’s Day, everyone sat in the cinema already knows the outcome. It simply isn’t possible to have a lasting friends with benefits relationship. It can work for a short amount of time, ie between relationships or whenever they’re in town. Even if you go into the relationship with no romantic feelings for the other person as time goes by you either realise that kind of person they are and terminate the relationship, or start to develop feelings for them.

In its defence the first half of the film is very good; great dialogue and supporting cast, Natalie Portman is fantastic and beautiful as ever, and it provided more than a few laughs. When Adam does eventually convince Emma to go on a date with him he brings her handful of carrots instead of flowers and hands her a date itinerary complete with a google map.

The character of Adam’s dad I spent the entire film trying to decide if I liked or not. He started off in an ‘American Pie Dad’ way of trying to be cool, smoking weed, and embarrassing his son by still trying to be young and sexy which instantly annoyed me. However there were parts of his character that worked very well; dating Adam’s ex girlfriend and the wonderful Birthday song scene. Lake Bell and Jake M. Johnson were fantastic supporting cast deserve a lot more credit than they’ll probably get and were as enjoyable to watch as Portman and Kutcher.

Overall No Strings Attached is certainly better than most might expect, although if you take a date to this film on Valentine’s Day be weary of what message you want to send. But at the end of the day if it looks like a rom-com and sounds like a rom-com, it’s a rom-com.

***~~ (3/5)

A slow weekend saw the Anthony Hopkins exorcism-based horror thriller The Rite head to the top of the charts with a very average $15m. The story of a priest who becomes involved in the darker side of his faith while studying at an exorcism school in Italy has made back nearly half of its budget, although it doesn’t really compare to the same box office results of this time last year (Avatar made $31 after seven weeks on release!)

Last week’s number one, No Strings Attached, has dropped down to second place, which a total so far of $39.7m. This result marks a return to form for director Ivan Reitman, whose previous film to this (2006’s abysmal My Super Ex-Girlfriend) only managed to scrape together a paltry $22m during its entire run.

The new Jason Statham vehicle The Mechanic is at number three with $11.5m – a less-than-explosive figure for the action star whose last film in The Transporter series managed to pull in over $1m more than this during its opening weekend in 2008.

Figures courtesy of Box Office Mojo

Bing have debuted a new clip from No Strings Attached which stars Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman and I think it has to be one of the strangest clips from a movie that I’ve ever seen! We get to see three women currently on their period looking uber depressed but it’s all OK as Ashton Kutcher has made them all a ‘Period Mix’ tape. How romantic indeed!

No Strings Attached is directed by Ivan Reitman and also stars Cary Elwes, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby, Lake Bell, Ophelia Lovibond. It’ll be with us 25th February.

Our friends over at CinemaBlend have the red band trailer for Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher’s new movie, No String Attached with tells the story of a couple of friends who decided to start sleeping together with, you guess it, no strings attached!

The movie is directed by Ivan Reitman and also stars Cary Elwes, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby, Lake Bell and Ophelia Lovibond. This is one of two movies coming out this year in which two friends decide to get together with quite probably the same outcome. The other movie stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis and is called Friends with Benefits. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if both are as predicable as they look. Then again, this one is directed by Reitman so I’m holding out hope!

No Strings Attached is released in the US 21st January and in the UK 25th February.

Natalie Portman seems to be in everything at the moment! We’ve been inundated with posters, trailer and clips from Black Swan, then of course she’s currently filming Thor and she has another movie coming out called No Strings Attached which had a trailer released a week or two ago.

Latino Review have got a new clip from the movie which is directed by Ivan Reitman and also stars Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby, Lake Bell and Ophelia Lovibond.

Synopsis: A guy (Kutcher) and girl (Portman) try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

“Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!” is one of those iconic movie quotes which has fully earned its place in pop culture history over the last 25 years. Frequently voted high in the ranks as one of the greatest comedies ever made, it was released in 1984 and spawned a sequel five years later in ’89 in the form of Ghostbusters II.

This Ghostbusting franchise is still alive and kicking with rumours of the long awaited third installment due to go into production in May 2011!

Along with The Goonies, Back to the Future and other classics from the 1980s, the fan-base for Ghostbusters is loud and proud and while we wait very patiently for concrete production details to trickle through regarding shooting for next year’s highly anticipated Ghostbusters 3 movie, Film-maker and Producer Anthony Bueno and Co-Producer Claire Bueno of Bueno Productions have created a phenomenal feature-length documentary retrospective which looks set to satisfy even Slimer’s insatiable appetite!

Along with Graphics Designer Anthony Zart and Sam Cicchirilo of Burbank store Hollywood Expendables, ‘Cleanin’ Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters’ has been dubbed the definitive documentary of the Ghostbusters films and is sure to please fans and film-makers alike with inside scoops, unique stories from cast and crew and reflections of the creative process which brought these beloved films to life.

Check out the fantastic trailer for ‘Cleanin’ Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters’. Be sure to “Stay Puft” for more information as we continue to follow the progress of the rumoured sequel as well as the development of this very special documentary which you will not want to miss.

And remember, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say “YES”!

You can join the Facebook group dedicated to the documentary here.

Paramount have released the first poster for their upcoming romantic comedy No Strings Attached.

No Strings Attached is directed by Ivan Reitman and centers on a guy and girl who try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

The film stars Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Greta Gerwig, Mindy Kaling, Ludacris, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby and Jake Johnson.

No Strings Attached will be released on January 21, 2011.

Check out the poster below, courtesy of ThePlaylist:

Paramount have unveiled the official trailer for the forthcoming romantic comedy No Strings Attached.

No Strings Attached is directed by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) and stars Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes, Lake Bell, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby and Greta Gerwig.

Synopsis: A guy (Kutcher) and girl (Portman) try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

Check out the trailer below, courtesy of Moviefone:

No Strings Attached will be released on January 21, 2011.

Collider have posted the first look still from No Strings Attached, ahead of the first trailer being released tomorrow.

No Strings Attached is directed by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) and stars Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes, Lake Bell, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby and Greta Gerwig.

Synopsis: A guy (Kutcher) and girl (Portman) try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

Check out the first still below, and check back tomorrow for the official trailer:

No Strings Attached will be released on January 21, 2011.

I’m a fan of Laz Marquez’s work and we previously posted his poster for A Nightmare on Elm Street, which you can see here.

He’s just posted a new colourful film related piece that he’s been working on and this time he’s tackled the 1984 Ivan Reitman film Ghostbusters. The print features the characters Dana (Sigourney Weaver) and Louis (Rick Moranis).

You can see the full print below and I can recommend heading over to Laz Marquez’s site here to check out more of his work.

Let us know what you think.

Who you gonna call?

UK newspaper, the Mail on Sunday has managed to find out some more details about Bill Murray’s character in the Ivan Reitman Directed Ghostbusters 3. (Slight spoiler ahead) The good news is that he’s confirmed that he’ll be in the movie and he goes on to say that he told the producers the only way he’s be in a third movie was if his character appeared as ghost which backs up what Sigourney Weaver said when she was in the UK for Avatar promotion.

“I’ll come back in Ghostbusters III only if I get to be a ghost. I said to them, ‘I’ll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.’ So now they are going to have me as a ghost in the film.”

who you gonna call?

Great news to end the day here at HeyUGuys central that Ivan Reitman has confirmed in a brief interview given with MTV that he will indeed be directing the third instalment of Ghostbusters. He managed to shy away from commenting on Sigourney Weaver’s comments at the Avatar junket where she claimed that *spoiler alert* Bill Murray’s character may be a ghost in this new movie *spoiler end* but did go on to confirm that he will be directing the next movie which is pleasant news to our ears.He also said that he’d like to start shooting next year (2011).

MTV: Reitman said that the script from “Year One” writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky is in and that a second draft is currently in the works. He also confirmed that he will indeed be returning to direct the coming sequel, as had been previously speculated.

“They have delivered a draft,” Reitman said of the script’s progress. “We are working our way through another draft… good work is being done and all of us have our fingers crossed.”

Reitman was all business again when the talk turned back to the schedule. “I hope to start shooting in this next year,” he said, giving weight to Ramis’ recent comments about a planned 2011 release.

Head over to MTV for more info where they have a video clip of the interview too.

While other Paranormal Activity is chilling spines this Halloween month, news is reaching us of one of our most cherished franchises, one whose long awaited sequel is rattling into pre-production.

Bloody Disgusting tells us that Ivan Reitman will be returning to Ghostbusters 3, behind the camera, though we are not told in what capacity. This is great news, as while the original team of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Ackroyd and Ernie Hudson are all confirmed to return for the next film, having Reitman behind the camera will complete this reunion and should bring Reitman back to his glory days of Stripes, the original Ghostbusters films and, um, Junior.

What we also know (according to /Film) is that a script has been delivered from the writers of the subtle as a blowtorch to the face prehistoric comedy Year One, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. I hope Ackroyd and Ramis will have considerable input, I’d hate to see this one disappoint.

Read here for more info. We’ll be watching.