[Update: Pearce has taken to Twitter to clarify that he didn't write a script, but instead wrote a "bible" for the proposed film, which is likely a treatment Sony will work off of. See his tweets below, followed by our original story.]

https://twitter.com/mrdrewpearce/status/626508713038319616
https://twitter.com/mrdrewpearce/status/626504635453427712

A few months after it was announced that Paul Feig would be directing the Ghostbusters reboot, with a cast led by some very talented female comedians, word surfaced that Sony Pictures was separately working on another Ghostbusters movie that would possibly be lead by two of the most in-demand actors working today: Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum. Feig subsequently made clear he had no involvement with that picture and was only focused on making his Ghostbusters movie, but it nevertheless felt like Sony hedging their bets with a “male” Ghostbusters film to offset Feig’s one—even though dudes lead 99% of studio blockbusters today.

Nevertheless, when Pratt was asked about his involvement in a Ghostbusters film he flat-out denied any knowledge of it. Cut to today, where MTV caught up with screenwriter Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) who revealed that yes the other Ghostbusters project exists, and the script is completed:

“I’ve finished my work on that in the last couple weeks. Obviously it’s top secret, but there’s a gigantic bold idea that I came up with, and the Russo brothers — who did Captain America: The Winter Soldier and are doing Civil War at the moment — and Ivan Reitman, who did the original movie, are going to take that and run with it. Obviously I cannot tell you what it is, but hopefully in one year’s time you’ll know!”


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Image via Universal Pictures

Pearce was tight-lipped about specifics, but when asked if Chris Pratt and Channing Tatum would be starring in the film he wrote, the scribe said:

“That’s definitely the cast we’ve been thinking about as we approach the project. Whether that happens or not is very much above my pay grade. It’s just my job to give them something exciting that maybe they’ll do.”

The initial reporting on this other Ghostbusters film from BMD claimed that Sony was planning four movies in all, in a sort of inter-connected universe, with Tatum and real-life friend Pratt aiming to team up in what will be the second Ghostbusters movie of the series, and then blending with Feig’s cast down the line. Pearce confirmed that in his mind, the films take place in the same universe:

“My personal inclination is to try and make everything occur in the same Ghostbusters universe, because I feel, as a fan, that’s what I would want. Here in New York, you just wanna tie it all together. Whether that happens or not we’ll see, but I’ve certainly given them the tools to do that, I hope.”

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Image via Sony Pictures

But Pearce makes it abundantly clear in his comments that his job was simply to write a script for something Sony might want to do, so there’s no guarantee his specific version will be the one that makes it to theaters, if it gets greenlit at all. Things are all still very much in the planning stages, but Sony isn’t having a great 2015 and Pratt is the star of the third biggest movie of all time, so it’s not tough to believe the studio would be working to make this particular collaboration a reality.

In the meantime, though, we have an actual, real movie to look forward to. Feig’s incredibly promising reboot has Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon leading a project that Sony has been trying to get off the ground for decades, and I'm excited to see what they've put together. Ghostbusters opens in theaters on July 22, 2016.

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Image via Sony Pictures