GHOSTLY MOVIE

Is or is not “Ghostbusters II” going to materialize?

Columbia chief David Puttnam told Daily Variety last month that the film would go into production in November with the original cast and creators. Which apparently was a revelation to producer-director Ivan Reitman. (Said an associate: “The first we’d heard of it.”)

The sequel is of unusual interest, since the original was the grossingest comedy in history--a reported $300 million.

Reitman’s office confirmed that Dan Aykroyd and other writers had been working on a script for more than a year, but that’s all they’d say.

We scared up Puttnam at the Cannes Festival in France: “Hopefully, it will happen in November but it might have to be delayed until January because of conflicting talent commitments. We want to explore all avenues to ensure that the people from the first film are involved. It’s to everyone’s best interests.”

As to involvement of Bill Murray, who is said to have made in the 20s of millions for his cut: “We have no fall-back position (alternate casting possibilities),” Puttnam said. “That would be silly. Right now we’re waiting for a set of finite proposals from their representatives (Creative Artists). Matters are made easier because the people involved are all with the same agency.”

(Ironically, Puttnam has stated, emphatically, that he would reject talent-agency packages.)

Murray, meanwhile, plans to do “AirAmerica,” a black comedy by writer-director Richard Rush (“Stunt Man”). He’ll play a pilot flying for the CIA’s covert airline during the final days of Vietnam. Filming in Malaysia is planned for October.