Jason Reitman’s just-announced Ghostbusters 3 looks like it’s going to be fast-tracked through production as quick as humanly possible. Not only did the film’s reveal come with a teaser trailer, but we now already know what name the movie’s being shot under. The information comes from trade publication Production Weekly, which lists the project as “GHOSTBUSTERS 3 (w/t RUST CITY).”
Now, we all know that working titles tend not to have a connection to anything in the finished product. For example, Jurassic World was shot under the name ‘Ebb Tide,’ The Dark Knight was shot under the name ‘Rory’s Last Kiss’ and Star Trek was titled ‘Corporate Headquarters.’ However, there are instances where the working title has eventually been used for the finished product, in the case of Cloverfield, High School Musical and, famously, Snakes on a Plane.
Plus, ‘Rust City’ actually does vaguely fit with the rumors we’ve heard about Ghostbusters 3‘s plot. Word is that we’re going to get a rural setting (hence seeing the Ecto-1 in a barn in the teaser) and watch the classic team pass the mantle to a new generation. If that’s true, then the film being set in an economically deprived ‘rusty’ area kind of makes sense, and while it’s a bit of departure from New York City, it at least shows that they’re open to trying new things.
All that said, much of Ghostbusters 3 remains an unknown quantity. We still have no word on which of the surviving original cast will return, with Ernie Hudson explaining that no-one’s approached him about being in the movie yet. Bill Murray’s probably deeply skeptical of the whole affair, too, and after his cameo in the awful 2016 reboot, he may well be done with the franchise. Just about the only person you can rely on to be in the film then is Dan Aykroyd, and who knows, maybe that’s even his barn we’re seeing in the teaser?