Ghostbusters - First Draft Screenplay - Columbia Pictures

Ghostbusters (1984) Movie script (Copy)

Complete script including 134 pages
First Draft Screenplay dated August 5, 1983
Screenplay by Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis

The early Ghostbusters script with the original logo spans 134 pages, compared to the 94-page shooting script, highlighting the extensive amount of additional material, scenes and dialogue included in this first version. This length underscores how much the story and character development were later condensed for production, making the draft a valuable record of ideas and concepts that were ultimately trimmed or altered.

The cover featuring the original Ghostbusters logo is historically important because it belongs to one of the earliest versions of the script that was never publicly released. This rare draft provides a tangible glimpse into the film’s formative stage, showing how the branding, tone, and visual identity were initially conceived. Such early materials are invaluable to scholars and collectors because they document creative choices that were later altered or abandoned, highlighting the evolution of the story, characters, and marketing approach before the movie reached production.

Did you know?

Our scripts come directly from the USA. They are easy to recognize because they have the standard U.S. paper size. Typically, people use A4-sized paper (297mm in height) to make fan copies of scripts. This paper size is not used in the United States; they use letter-sized paper (279mm in height). This is noticeable because this scripts usually have black lines at the top and bottom, showing that the original paper size used to copy (any American script) is smaller than A4.

Also, our scripts have been preserved under the strictest climate control standards in HVAC-R conditions, both during storage and throughout the packaging process. As a result, a label is applied after sealing them, as shown in the photos. They are bound in the same way that vault copies of scripts are preserved, without any oxidizable materials that could damage the paper. They are carefully packed in bubble wrap and placed in a cardboard box to ensure they arrive in the best possible condition.