GHOSTBUSTERS II AUGUST 5 1988 DRAFT
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The Ghostbusters II August 5, 1988 Draft is a collaborative draft of Ghostbusters II by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd.
The August 5, 1988 draft contains the general premise of the final movie version - the Ghostbusters go back into business a couple years after the Gozer incident to save a mother and child from Vigo. However, there are notable differences in the story structure and certain characters are missing or replaced. Janosz Poha and Slimer are completely absent from this draft. The only ghosts are Vigo and the Scoleri Brothers. Dana Barrett has been replaced with a new love interest named Lane Walker. Lane's baby son is unnamed throughout the draft. Walter Peck makes a brief appearance. Peter Venkman and Louis Tully have elevated roles while Janine Melnitz and Winston Zeddemore are barely present. Mayor Lenny is replaced with a politician named Maury. The River of Slime does not appear and is instead represented by a horde of insects. The Ecto-1 remains Ecto-1 throughout the draft. Since there is no River of Slime, there are no Slime Blowers. The Statue of Liberty is used for evil by Vigo. In terms of story, the New Year's Eve backdrop is absent, montages are barely a presence, and several locations like the Parkview Psychiatric Hospital and Peter's apartment are absent nor have any comparable stand-ins.
Similarities and Differences
The first character to appear, on page one, was Vigo in the form of Jalmar Litvinov, an immigrant from Tsbirsk, Russia. He arrived at Ellis Island in 1917 with a holy icon, a hinged triptych painted on wood in the Byzantine style, depicting matrydom of a trio of Russian saints. Notably, the central figure in the trio had a powerfully expressive face.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was used. In 1956, the icon is on display. From pages two to three, the central figure blinks at nuns observing it, turns his head, and fades out of the picture.
Pages 3-5 entail an early version of Ecto-1 speeding up Broadway on the Upper West Side and the birthday party Ray and Winston perform at.
Ray and Winston, in Ecto-1, have the exchange about how many they have to deal with. Whereas, in the movie, the exchange takes place with the Brownstone Mother.
Winston is stated to be thinking of quitting the party business.
On page 4, they arrive at The Brownstone on West 77th Street. They walk through a set of French doors to a small backyard and join the party.
In the movie, the party is in the Brownstone's living room.
On page 5, the 1 child thought Bozo was coming to the party, and 1 sayed "My dad say's youre full of crap", while all the other children are excited with the Ghostbusters arrival and jump to hug Ray and Winston. In the movie, the 14 childrenthought He-Man was coming to the party and act disapointed its the Ghostbusters instead.
On page 5, Ray retells the final battle from the first movie. He alludes to 550 Central Park West and mentions the two Terror Dogs.
On page 6, the The World of the Psychic is filmed at the Manhattan Cable Building.
In later drafts, it is set at the WKRR-TV Studio.
On page 6, the episode deals with three women who claim to have had sexual relations with aliens.
In later drafts and the movie, the episode revolves around a man and woman's claims of when the end of the world will take place.
One character and her story is preserved in the final version, Elaine and her Paramus Holiday Inn story.
On page 7, Peter's "Starman and E.T." line takes place between Elaine and Sarah's stories.
In the movie, the line ends the episode.
On page 8, Peter meets with a small group of eclectic fans.
In the movie, Peter tries to greet Mayor Lenny and is blocked by Jack Hardemeyer.
Notably, one of the fans has a hairless cat. This could have been kept for the end of the episode when Peter holds up a hairless cat.
On page 8, Peter meets Lane Walker.
On page 9, Lane has the core backstory that becomes Dana's in the movie - not married, has an infant child, and her significant other is estranged with her.
On page 10, Peter notes the Ghostbusters ran into trouble a couple years back.
The 'Five Years Later' constraint is not used yet.
In the movie, Dana first went to Egon for help. Here, Lane went to Peter first.
On page 10, Lane's son is 9 months old and has no name throughout the draft.
In the movie, Dana's son is named Oscar and is about 8 months old at the start.
Peter's 'He's gone completely berserk' line appears. This would be used in the movie, when Peter, Egon, and Ray visit Dana to investigate Oscar.
On page 11, Peter replies he thinks the infant is cute.
In the movie, Peter tells Dana he thinks Oscar is ugly.
On page 11, Lane notes things have moved around in the nursery.
In the movie, Oscar's nursery comes up clean during scans and Dana doesn't note any paranormal incidents.
On page 12, Peter remarks 'in science you always look for the simplest explanation.'
In the movie, this is one of Egon's lines at the Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research.
On page 13, Lane's apartment is revealed to be a brownstone in Greenwich Village and the runaway baby carriage scene occurs.
Dana's apartment is on East 78th Street and the runaway baby carriage scene becomes the first scene in the movie with the added catalyst being Psychomagnotheric Slime.
On page 14, the incident takes place on Sixth Avenue.
In the movie, the incident took place mainly on First Avenue.
On page 15, Peter saves the boy and carriage from the city bus by jumping on and propelling it forward.
In the movie, the carriage simply stops in the lane and the bus passes by it.
On page 16, Peter goes to the Einstein Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research on the campus of Columbia University to seek out Egon's help.
In the movie, 'Einstein' is dropped from the name of the institute and Dana goes instead of Peter.
On page 16, Egon is lecturing a class on the subject of quantum theory.
In the movie, Egon is researching negative emotions in a laboratory.
On page 18, Peter's 'chicks really go for that big cranium' line appears.
In the movie, the line is reworked and is moved to the Ray's Occult Books scene.
On page 18, the nature of psychokinetic energy is elaborated on as a unifying force on the so-called etheric plane.
On page 19, Egon goes on linking psychokinetic energy to quantum mechanics - energy is composed of particles and every particle has an antiparticle. Ray and Egon discovered a new energy composed of P.K.E. antiparticles they called the "psychomagnetic force". They detected it everywhere they looked but had no idea what it did or where it came from.
In the movie, the energy is known as "psychomagnotheric" and comes up later. Egon only talks about how he and Ray came up with a theory negative emotions could affect the physical plane.
On page 20, Egon refuses to do any ghostbusting but Peter insists it is only a consultation.
On page 20, Ray's Occult is described as a 'small basement shop on a quaint commercial block in Greenwich Village'. Ray also refuses to help Peter at first.
In the movie, Ray's 'conjured up a 100 foot...' line becomes Winston's earlier on at the end of the birthday party scene.
In the movie, by the time of the Ray's Occult scene, Egon and Ray are already working on Dana's case.
On page 21, Ray goes on to reveal he lost everything from the fines and lawsuits levied on the Ghostbusters and the bookstore is all he has. Ray also explains the terms of the restraining order placed on them.
In the movie, The Prosecutor later explains the restraining order during the trial.
On page 21, Ray states the store hours are closing at seven every day.
In the movie, the hours are adjusted to seven on weekdays and midnight on Saturday.
From page 22, Peter's 'mine or the baby's' line is changed to 'business or personal?' in the movie.
Lane remarks the strange incidents started happening a month to six weeks ago. In the movie, the animated carriage was the first instance.
Egon's 'run gynecological tests' line appears.
On page 24, the character Jason Locke is introduced. Locke is described as 'handsome, very intense-looking, early to mid-30s' and is revealed to be Lane's ex.
On page 25, Peter refers to himself, Egon, and Ray as the Pep Boys - Manny, Moe and Jack.
On page 26, the Giga meter is introduced. Egon and Ray worked on it to measure psychomagnetic energy in GeVs - giga-electron volts (or a thousand million electron volts).
On page 27, Ray uses a jack hammer to make a big hole. The First Cop appears in similar fashion as in the movie.
In the movie, Egon uses the jack hammer instead.
On page 28, Peter's 'working late on a Friday night' and Egon's 'Yo!' lines appear.
On page 29, the Giga meter is lowered down the hole. It is noted Egon and Ray are still trying to determine the parameters of the psychomagnetic field. They pull the meter up and find it is half-melted and fried to a crisp.
In the movie, Ray is lowered down the hole and he accidentally causes a city-wide blackout.
On page 29, the confrontation with the First Cop and Con Edison Supervisor takes place. They are simply arrested for lying about who they are.
On page 30, Peter, Ray, and Egon confer with Louis at the "City Jail" visitor's area.
On page 31, Louis' 'I mostly do tax law and probate stuff' line appears.
In the movie, this line is moved up to the start of the trial.
On page 32, Peter states they want Louis to represent them because they're broke and Louis owes them a favor for saving his life.
On page 32, the trial takes place at the Criminal Courts Building.
In the movie, the trial takes place at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse.
On page 32, the Judge's opening statement appears. It is essentially preserved in the movie.
On page 33, Jason Locke is seated in the gallery. The Judge is not named and the Prosecutor is a man.
In the movie, the Judge is named Stephen Wexler and the Prosecutor is a woman.
On page 33, Peter remarks the Judge is a 'pretty open minded guy'.
In the movie, this line becomes Winston as he visits the guys before the trial starts.
On page 33, Walter Peck is called up to testify. His middle name is revealed to be Margate and his new title at the EPA is Assistant Chief Deputy Investigator.
In the movie, the Con Ed Supervisor and Peter take the stand instead.
On page 36, a low rumbling tremor is felt under the judge's bench followed by two Full-Torso Apparitions exploding out of it.
In the movie, the tremor is replaced with the sample of Psychomagnotheric slime reacting to Wexler's tirade. The Scoleri Brothers manifest from the slime instead.
On page 37, the Scoleri Brothers blast the defense table with high-voltage finger lightning.
In the movie, the ghosts lack this ability. Instead, they lift up the defense table and throw it into the judge's bench.
On page 39, Egon admits they never tested the Proton Packs to find out how long the fuel cells last without recharging.
In the movie, Egon is adamant the packs will work and states the power cells have a half-life of 5000 years.
On page 40, Ray traps the Scoleri Brothers.
In the movie, Egon traps them.
On page 41, Peter, Ray, and Egon visit the Firehouse - it's a sorry sight. The doors and windows have been boarded up. The gaping hole in the roof is still there. Neighborhood kids threw rocks through the logo signage. A big sign is posted advertising space available.
In the movie, the visit is skipped over and a new sign is being installed.
On page 42, Ray postulates they got too big too fast, were slightly undermanned and underequipped, and assumed way too much responsibility for saving the world. Peter remarks their liability insurance didn't cover saving the world.
On page 43, the trio comes to a joint agreement to start over again. Ray assesses the damage to the Firehouse as superficial and reveals he kept a lot of old stuff in storage. Egon admits being a physics professor and teaching quantum theory wasn't very challenging. Peter proposes they keep Ghostbusters small, take it slow, and play it safe with taking on only residential hauntings and personal possessions. Strictly limited liability is emphasized.
On page 44, the old sign comes crashing down from the Firehouse a few days later. Janine first appears. She takes down the 'Space Available' sign. The new sign is hoisted up while two electricians rewire the ground floor inside.
It is revealed Janine left an office temp job to come back to the Ghostbusters.
When Janine asks where the women's restroom is, Peter remarks they're trying a unisex bathroom but she should lock the doors anyway.
When Peter inquires where Ray and Egon are, Janine states they're working on a new storage facility in the basement.
On page 45, Louis first appears. He is upstairs with Winston working on forms for the IRS.
Louis notes the Ghostbusters refiled as a New York State Corporation.
Louis handles payroll so he is filling out W-2 forms for everyone.
Winston's social security number is 322-36-7366. Louis' social security number is 450-27-2149
Louis has computer Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune on one floppy disc.
On page 46, Louis starts to fantasize about a life of action and adventure as a Ghostbuster. In the movie, this subplot is downplayed. It only remains in deleted scenes and the movie's finale when Louis suits up.
On page 46, the Ghostbusters are called to the World Trade Center. They enter an investment firm called "Drexel, Burnham, Lambert" and meet with their client, Ed Petrosius - a super successful, very tightly wound and highly-charged bond salesman. On page 47, Petrosius causes things to burst into flames. Ray thinks its spontaneous combustion or pyrogenesis. On page 48, Petrosius states he wants to keep this secret or he might lose his job. On page 49, Ray knocks him out with one punch.
On page 50, Louis pretends to be a Ghostbuster and almost hits Janine with a Proton Stream. In the movie, this is turned into Louis' hunt for Slimer but becomes the deleted scene "Louis' Secret".
On page 51, Peter visits Lane. She works on Madison Avenue at Nu Kloze, a contemporary fashion boutique selling expensive French and Italian clothes. In the movie, this scene becomes Peter visiting Dana at the museum. On page 53, Peter asks Lane out on a date to a ballet performance and late dinner, with a babysitter included. In the movie, this takes place later in the movie when Peter convinces Dana to 'go out on the town' with him and presents Janine as a babysitter.
On page 54, an East Side Townhouse - done in the rococo-style- owned by Leona and Aubrey Wellesley. Leona is in her early 50s and harasses her husband. In a darker turn, Aubrey quietly loads his nickel-plated .38 caliber revolver. On page 55, cockroaches stream from the corner of a frame of an Old Master and the base of a chandelier. On page 56, silverfish and millipedes by the thousands pour out from under an antique Oriental carpet. Aubrey aims his revolver at Leona but a roach drops in her champagne. Aubrey promptly shoots at the swarm of insects that have invaded their mansion.
On page 57, a rippling wave of insects crawls up the building and engulfs the first floor, garage and the Wellesley's twin Rolls Royces. Meanwhile, Peter goes to Lane's apartment. She's still in her robe. On page 58, Egon and Ray arrive at Lane's apartment to take Peter underground to investigate the surge in insects. Peter's 'All you can eat' line appears. Ray shows Peter a Daily News article about the insect plague on the Upper East Side. An entomologist from Columbia estimated 10 million, every known local species. Egon notes lower life forms anticipate natural disasters and often signal some kind of major disaster. In the movie, Egon, Ray, and Winston arrive outside Peter's apartment just as he and Dana are about to hail a taxi to Armand's Restaurant.
On page 59, it is noted Peter and Lane have reservations at the Memphis. In the movie, Peter and Dana dine at Armand's.
On page 60, Louis is revealed to be the babysitter. Peter and Lane watch ballet at the Lincoln Center. In the movie, Janine is the babysitter but she invites Louis to come along.
On page 61, Louis tells the baby his variation of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It is preserved in the movie.
On page 62, Peter and Lane watch the Bolshoi Ballet perform "Giselle" in the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
On page 63, Ray and Egon enter the Memphis caked with mashed bugs and some sort of foul muck. In the movie, Ray, Egon, and Winston's investigation underground takes place before they interrupt Peter's date.
On page 64, Ray reveals they fell into a slime pit full of bugs and rodents. In the movie, Winston is pulled into the River of Slime. Egon and Ray jump in after him.
On page 65, a low rumble is generated under Lane's apartment. The baby miraculously sits up, uses the crib to pull himself up to a standing position, climbs nimbly out, and walks across the floor to the open window. In the movie, the window opens and the breeze catches Oscar's attention. His jaunt is not shown. When Dana checks on him, he is already standing on the ledge outside.
On page 66, Louis gave the baby 400 milliliters of milk. In the movie, Janine and Louis gave Oscar some Frenchbread pizza.
On page 67 to 68, Peter goes out on the ledge after the baby and grabs him. Jason Locke is in the alley down below. In the movie, Dana goes out on the ledge, but Janosz, in ghost form, kidnaps Oscar.
On page 69 to 70, Peter confronts Jason Locke outside the apartment. Locke raises his arms and windows shatter all around him. He hits Peter with a bolt of energy. On page 71 to 72, Jason returns to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is chased by a guard. The guard loses him. Jason is back in the holy icon as the central figure.
On page 72, Lane admits she never saw Locke do anything magical but reveals his last name is really Litvinov. On page 73, Egon goes to trace the name 'Litvinov' through INS records and the Sorcerer's Guide.
In the movie, Egon traced 'Vigo' on the Occult Reference Net and found a passage from Magicians, Martyrs And Madmen. On page 73, Lane reveals she met Locke at a Black Sabbath concert. He claimed to be a musician. They went out for awhile. She got pregnant and he became obsessed with the baby. After he became cruel towards her, she made him leave. He only came around again after the baby was born. She called the police on him. Egon reveals he took Giga meter readings on Jason from the Sixth Avenue encounter. He reads 130 GeVs.
In the movie, Dana's ex-husband was a musician.
On page 74, Egon compares Locke's reading to a normal human's reading of 3 GeVs. The building is rocked by another tremor. In a subway downtown, a train pulls up to ghostly commuters.
On page 75, a mouldering corpse in a worm eaten business suit and wide brimmed fedora drives into the Holland Tunnel in an old Ford. On page 76, a Sergeant Flaherty at the Manhattan Central Police Precinct receives a call about the Titanic.
In the movie, the cop is credited as a Police Sergeant .
On page 77, the Dock Supervisor and his assistant appear. On page 78, the Hindenburg lands at Kennedy Airport. Its passengers, all on fire, casually disembark.
On page 78, Janine's 'I'm sorry, the earliest we could get to you...' line appears. In the movie, this line is moved earlier in the movie before she leaves to babysit Oscar.
On page 80, a meeting at the Firehouse is held. Ray explains all their customers had high PMF readings when two men in business suits arrive. On page 81, the Ghostbusters are taken up FDR Drive to uptown in the Eighties. On page 82, the Ghostbusters arrive at Gracie Mansion where the Mayor is already waiting for them. He wants to keep their involvement a secret or risk his job. In the movie, this meeting takes place after Peter's date and they wait in the study for the Mayor. The Mayor doesn't believe them and leaves.
Peter's 'Better late than never line' is moved earlier in the movie and given to the Dock Supervisor.
On page 83, the Mayor asks the Ghostbusters for their help but Peter brings up the battle against Gozer, the Terror Dogs, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. On page 84, the Mayor offers to indemnify and insure the Ghostbusters against any and all damage claims resulting from anything done while in the employ of the city. The Ghostbusters agree and hold a meeting with all city department and agency heads and major business and community leaders.
The Ghostbusters are later bonded in Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
The Mayor is revealed to be named Maury, differing from Lenny in the first movie.
On page 85, Egon explains negative human emotions generate measurable amounts of psychomagnetic energy. Ray elaborates about 65 GeVs per person. Peter's '3 million miserable people' line comes up. Ray explains energy is building up under the city and the mass has gotten so big it's attracting ghost and spirit energy like a huge magnet. Peter concludes it will lead to the complete and total breakdown of urban society.
In the movie, Peter's 3 million line comes up earlier in the meeting with the Mayor.
On page 86, Egon compares the phenomena to the Fall of Rome, the Hundred Years War, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and the collapse of Germany in World War Two. The Mayor's 'you're telling me that if people don't stop being nasty to each other' line appears. The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw is interrupted with the Ghostbusters and Mayor at the World of the Psychic set.
In the movie, the Mayor's line appears earlier during the meeting with the Ghostbusters.
On page 87, Cumbaya, All You Need Is Love, Give Peace a Chance, It's a Small World, and Ray Steven's Everything is Beautiful are listed as songs that have a calming effect. In the movie, the sole song is Higher and Higher.
On page 88-90, New Yorkers attempt to stay calm at Yankee Stadium, 5th and 59th and a crowded city bus. In the movie, New York is inundated with various ghosts and entities instead.
On page 92, Egon reveals his search results. Litvinov had no marriage licenses, no birth certificates or legal name changes done. There are no record for a Jason Locke, Jason Litvinov or Jay Litvinov. Ray reveals Jalmar Litvinov was better known as 'Vigo the Carpathian' the Mad Abbot of Tsbirsk. He was a demented Russian monk and friend of Rasputin. Along with poverty and injustice, Vigo was one of the three leading causes for the Russian Revolution. In one 3 day stretch, Vigo had 1500 peasants staked, burned, crushed and ground up for fertilizer. He painted the holy icon. The Ghostbusters enter the Byzantine gallery and see the central figure in the icon is missing. On page 93, Ray fears Vigo wants to detonate the unstable psychomagnetic mass.
On page 94, the Ghostbusters take Louis with them since it couldn't hurt to have an extra pair of hands. Louis and Janine first make out. In the movie, the Ghostbusters part ways with Louis at the Parkview Psychiatric Hospital, and Louis and Janine make out earlier at Peter's apartment.
On page 95, Winston walks in on Louis and Janine making out and retorts he 'knows what you were doing'. In the movie, Winston's line becomes Dana's when she returns to Peter's apartment after the date.
On pages 95 to 96, the Ghostbusters head to Ellis Island to set a trap for Vigo. On pages 97 to 98, the Ghostbusters reflect on their ancestors seeing Ellis Island. Egon's grandparents came from Ostrov, Poland. Ray's great grandparents were Swiss and allegedly seeking 'other kinds of cheeses.' Peter's family was little bit of everything due to the Venkman women sleeping around. This conversation was moved to an epilogue that was deleted from the movie but some scenes were reused for the end credits sequence.
On page 98, Louis poses as Lane. On page 100, Jason Locke reveals he plans to rule a new empire after the current society falls apart. And when his body dies, he plans to house his spirit in his son's body. In the movie, Vigo has a similar plan and attempted to take Oscar as his host in order to live again.
On page 101, Egon has the team adjust their Particle Throwers to Delta Wave, Full Stream. Jason is unaffected. He dematerializes and reveals his true form as Vigo - a wild-eyed, full-bearded, fully dressed in heavily brocaded robes and Eastern-style miter of an Orthodox bishop but adorned with symbols of his own twisted religion. Egon has the team try the new converters and they blast Vigo at Gamma Wave, Force Five. On page 102, Vigo deflects the streams back at the Ghostbusters. He flies after Lane and the baby but as the Ghostbusters pursue in a police launch, he shifts to Liberty Island. In the movie, Vigo unleashes a wave of energy from his mouth and paralyzes the Ghostbusters.
On page 103 to 104, Vigo draws negative energy from the city then infuses and animates the Statue of Liberty with it. The statue's eyes glow and torch bursts into flame. He occupies the observation deck and the Statue marches through the river. In the movie, the Ghostbusters animate the Statue of Liberty with positively charged Psychomagnotheric slime and occupy the observation deck. In similar fashion, the torch bursts into flame and it also marches across the river.
On page 103, Winston reveals he left a good, safe job at the airlines to return to being a Ghostbuster. On page 105, the Ghostbusters regroup at Battery Park and come up with an idea to reverse the polarity of the psychomagnetic mass by patching into a Con Ed transmission line carrying 500 kilovolt amps of current. Egon cautions they could make Vigo stronger or be instantly burnt to a crisp.
On page 106, Louis is used as bait once again. This time at the foot of Wall Street.
On page 109, the Ghostbusters plug their Proton Packs into a transformer at the end of the heavy-duty cable which is now patched into the Con Ed power grid. The packs are described as dangerously over-loaded household outlets. Peter's 'It kind of makes you wonder' line appears. In the movie, Peter's line appears when the Ghostbusters head to Liberty Island.
On page 111, they hit the Statue of Liberty with 2 million kilowatts of electricity. The statue heats up red hot, steam is released, the polarity reverses, and Vigo explodes into dust. On page 112, the psychomagnetic energy shoots out the observation area and in desperation, the statue hurls her torch at the Ghostbusters before she topples over.. Rescue workers dig the Ghostbusters out of the wreckage of the torch just as the Mayor's motorcade arrives. The Mayor's 'And we just had it restored' line appears. In the movie, the Mayor's line appears in a scene outside the Manhattan Museum of Art but is deleted.
On page 114, Peter advises the Mayor to restore the statue and cash in by throwing a big party, having fireworks and TV specials. The script ends with everyone getting into the Mayor's limo and driving away to uptown Manhattan - leaving the Mayor just standing there in the street.
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