Director Ivan Reitman, shown Jan. 5, has agreed to direct Ghostbusters 3. (Dan Steinberg/Associated Press)

Ivan Reitman, the Canadian director behind the Ghostbusters franchise, has confirmed there will be a third installment and he will direct it.

Speaking to MTV on Tuesday evening in New York, Reitman said he expects to begin shooting this year for a 2011 release.

Reitman said Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who penned Year One, are working on a second draft of a script for Ghostbusters 3. But he refused to give any details of the storyline.

Recently Sigourney Weaver, the actress who appeared in the earlier Ghostbuster films, said she had heard the original actors would have minor roles in the new film and a new generation of ghostbusters would be introduced.

The first film of the comedy franchise, released in 1984, was written by co-stars Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and Ghostbusters II, released in 1989, was co-written by Ramis.

Reitman, a Czech-born director who grew up and began his career in Toronto, createdMeatballs, one of the most popular Canadian movies ever made. A success in the U.S., he has made a career out of directing comedies such as Kindergarten Cop and Dave.

He was producer for his son Jason Reitman's Up in the Air and executive producer for Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day.