Paul Feig's 2016 GHOSTBUSTERS reboot was a troubled project from the moment it was first announced and met with a huge amount of internet backlash, which proved that fans take GHOSTBUSTERS a lot more seriously than I ever would have imagined. The budget was ridiculously high, the box office was underwhelming, and Dan Aykroyd has put the blame on Feig's shoulders, saying that it's unlikely the Ghostbusters team introduced in that film – played by Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones – will ever return to the screen.
Producer Ivan Reitman, who directed the 1984 original GHOSTBUSTERS and its 1989 sequel, is a little more hopeful about the new team's chances, and even sees potential in a film that would have them meeting the surviving original Ghostbusters (Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson).
This world we worked very hard to set-up way back in 1984 didn’t seem to be part of this new movie. I really like the new women in the latest film, I think they’re great fun. I thought the film was really quite effective, but there was something of a loss where we didn’t pick up the history that we built up in the two earlier movies. … I thought if there was a way, particularly in future films we’re working on, to bring them all together. It would be much more satisfying and much more fun."
Reitman does acknowledge that it would seem strange to have the two groups interacting when Aykroyd, Murray, and Hudson already made cameos as different characters in the '16 film, but it's still something he would like to see. The two sets of Ghostbusters have already crossed paths in comic books.
A cinematic crossover might not happen, but as Reitman mentioned there are other GHOSTBUSTERS projects in development. One is an animated film, which he says has a "really great story":
That’s going to surprise everybody, I think, when it comes out. And we’re dealing with Ghost World quite a lot. We’re looking at the film from a ghost point-of-view, and the Ghostbusters from a ghost point-of-view."
He also mentioned that there is another live action film in the works, but he didn't give any details on what that might be or who its Ghostbusters are.
As for when we might see a new GHOSTBUSTERS in theatres, whether animated or live action, Reitman said that 2019 is a strong possibility. A new film to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original.
The studio is going to try to tie one of the new films close to that date."
Well, it's not likely that anything they make now would click with viewers the way the 1984 film did, but maybe they'll have better luck with future productions than they had with GHOSTBUSTERS 2016.