At Reitman's suggestion, the story was given a major overhaul, eventually evolving into the final screenplay which Aykroyd and Harold Ramis hammered out over the course of a few months in a Martha's Vineyard bomb shelter, according to Ramis on the DVD commentary track for the movie. The original draft of the script written by Aykroyd was very large, compared to a "phone book" by director Ivan Reitman.Īykroyd pitched his story to director and producer Reitman, who liked the basic idea but immediately saw the budgetary impossibilities demanded by Aykroyd's first draft. Also, the Ghostbusters wore SWAT-like outfits and used wands instead of Proton Packs to fight the ghosts Ghostbusters storyboards show them wearing riot squad–type helmets with movable transparent visors. The original story as written by Aykroyd was much more ambitious-and unfocused-than what would be eventually filmed in Aykroyd's original vision, a group of Ghostbusters would travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts (of which the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was just one of many). Even at that time, there was plausible research that could point to a device that could capture ectoplasm or materialization at least visually." Aykroyd thought, "Let's redo one of those old ghost comedies, but let's use the research that's being done today. Aykroyd came up with Ghostbusters after reading an article about quantum physics and parapsychology in the American Society of Psychical Research Journal and then watching movies like Ghostchasers.
The concept of the first film was inspired by Dan Aykroyd's own fascination with the paranormal, and it was conceived by Aykroyd as a vehicle for himself and friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alum John Belushi.