LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood studio Columbia is planning to revive its hit 1980s franchise "Ghostbusters" with a third film that will reunite stars Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, it was reported Thursday.

Entertainment industry daily Variety reported on its website that Columbia Pictures has already hired screenwriters Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky to write the third film in the money-spinning series.

The first two "Ghostbusters" movies -- about an intrepid team of ghost exterminators battling supernatural forces in New York -- grossed more than $500 million worldwide in total.

Two other members of the original cast, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, would also return for the third film, Variety reported.

Director Ivan Reitman made both the 1984 original and the 1989 sequel.