The studio doing that is in Hong Kong, where labor costs and copyright enforcement over the actual software used is slim to none. US and Canadian studios cannot compete with that quality of work on a similar budget. A lot of high-quality VFX work like that is seen from Squaresoft and the like, using Alias|Wavefront Maya or Softimage (both owned by Discreet now - who also own 3D Studio Max). Once considered the pre-eminent package for 3D, even by WETA Digital in Lord of the Rings (Trilogy), they are quickly being rendered obsolete by specialist software in Houston TX, San Francisco CA, and Madrid Spain - who are better at protecting their programs from piracy with physical hardware locking devices and strong encryption technology.
Applications of cell shader technology help lower costs, using old standby technology like Renderman and Brazil, to achieve very precise CG effects at ILM, but there is a limit to the context of story and detail you can present with cell shading alone. Good examples include the roto work on "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly" - which both went multiples over budget to finish - due largely to the cost of US labor and time required for precise work.
As Kevin Eastman (of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Editor Heavy Metal Magazine) once told me, in regard to making FAKK2, the cost is just so high unless you own the entire pipeline (like Squaresoft, Disney, or WETA), that both quality and deliverables suffer beyond control of management in such a venture. ILM pulled it off only with the technical help of AMD and Intel covering new hardware + in-house support of Skywalker Sound LLC. They also had a #1 property and prequel market testing to refer to in financing.
GB, on the other hand, has little in the way of stable merchandise or spin-off properties to point out. Eclipsed by darker fixtures (Todd Toys) for Resident Evil. To compete, they would have to sign some preliminary deals and invest a lot of money in setting up sustained income after the initial film release - counting on merch sales to carry the cost of the film (due piracy). Good partners might include Netflix pre-orders, unique properties (collectibles, numbered and limited) and even interactive sustained content.
The whole business of film making has changed, and the real money is not in the box office anymore. It is in the property development. Star Trek, for instance, banked $20B in 40 years. Most of which was not made by the initial release of any of those films. GB failed to capitalize on these things in their day and even lost the 'official trademark filing' to imitation products, diluting the value of the brand tremendously against those 'cheap knockoffs' that practically torpedoed the franchise.
Unlike Star Wars, that has always had property in stores, GB also has stopped selling - making the use of their trademark subject to piracy or claim by other groups - which is of major concern to Sony in the relaunch of the property and potential legal lawsuits ahead should they invest. Failure to cite copyright and trademark can - in this way - seriously deter banks and studios from regarding a property as 'viable' for relaunch in film or sales.
Lucas had a similar issue with 'knock off' and fan made costumes, and finally settled - accepting the exchange was good and the property 'well recognized', but Ghostbusters is not the same. So Sony and other vendors will have to cross that bridge when they come to it. Fans using the property for personal gain - even career or employment and appearances for fee - can deeply undermine the credibility of the brand and logo based on misconduct before the public and negative publicity generated by their actions. In the zeal to do good, many groups don't realize they are in fact 'borrowing' without consent a registered icon for use - and become upset when told so or that their use is not allowed despite their appeal.
A good example is White Wolf Games 'use' of artwork by Tim Bradstreet, in which they developed the White Wolf "Vampire" and "World of Darkness" brands from. After dispute with Bradstreet over non-payment of royalties, he forbayed future work with WW, and that seriously damaged their company - forcing sale to CCP of Iceland in 2005. They saw no harm in running an extra 1000-2000 shirts without paying $0.25 each to Tim, but he certainly knew when his rights were affected, and took issue. Currently, he is working on Red Sky Diaries, and refuses to even associate with WW events because of their conduct during the debate. FASA faced similar issues in Shadowrun, and subsequent 'younger audience' artwork helped contribute to their bankruptcy and sale to Wizkid games in the late 1990s. Both were incredible products, and both demonstrated the error in going to lower-common-denominator audiences (Kindred: The Embraced, Shadowrun the video game) - which ended each franchise with a whimper.
Fans looking to get the movie done should give credit to the company, because that reminds investors who they need to contact for possible follow up on licensing the product for new media, as well as shows that the fanbase know they are not co-owners or exploiting the icons in the public domain.
Failure to do so ends products in the "public domain" - like Bettie Boop - which while they make good T-shirts do not grant the exclusive rights on merchandise required for multi-million dollar investment risk in film. The Cohen Brothers can tell you all about this - as they were sued for The Matrix:Reloaded, and nearly lost everthing. Sometimes, no matter how good, making a film that isn't well positioned just isn't worth the risk.
Video games, on the other hand, are easier to defend and the stakes much lower ($5-$15M) versus film ($50-$250M).
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Subject: CG ghostbusters??... 
Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:03 am
I don't know if that will work. But then again I would love to see it. 
If they do make the film, I really hope they cast Dan,Bill,Harold,Ernie,Rick,Annie & Sigourney.
