GBusters & Riddick to Atari

There’s been some major talk on a GHOSTBUSTERS 3 recently, and it all stemmed from the planned GHOSTBUSTERS video game. We started reporting on the game months ago, which would center on a new recruit for the famous ghost busting team. The game was actually looking pretty bad ass and had all us GHOSTBUSTER fans excited at the prospect of something new. Not to mention the fact that word is all the original actors from the flick had such a great time doing voiceover for the game, that they’ve all decided they’re very much up for a third film.

Well the game was originally over at Activision and if memory serves me correctly, it was nearly finished. Then came the bad news. Activision merged with Vivendi Games and decided not to bring GHOSTBUSTERS with them. The sequel to THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE AT BUTCHER BAY also fell into the same category as GHOSTBUSTERS. Two games with a lot of potential that had us fans eager to try got left in the dust. Well that’s all changed according to Variety!

Apparently none other than Atari has picked up the rights to both these games. That’s some awesome news! Personally I was stoked for the GHOSTBUSTERS game and BUTCHER BAY was considered one of the best ‘based on a movie’ games to hit consoles for a while. RIDDICK’s sequel will be titled THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ASSAULT ON DARK ATHENA. The star of the RIDDICK films Vin Diesel is very much involved with DARK ATHENA, providing voiceover work and producing. This couples with the news that Atari just signed a deal with Universal to continue the RIDDICK franchise through video games, so expect some more entries in the series after DARK ATHENA, which is looking at a Spring 2009 release.

Word is Atari has a similar deal with Sony for the GHOSTBUSTER game, but it seems they’re waiting to see if that’s as successful. Seems like the plan is to release GHOSTBUSTERS in early Summer 2009 to coincide along with the film’s 25th anniversary. I’m sure the ongoing buzz on a GHOSTBUSTERS 3 film doesn’t hurt either. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson are all returning for voiceover work in the video game. All four are expected to return for the third film as well. Aykroyd and Ramis penned the script for the game.So there’s some good news for video game fans. Keep it here for any more updates on GHOSTBUSTERS or RIDDICK as we hear them.