Rumors of a “Ghostbusters 3” have circulated for years. But rumbles about sequels, even to movies made decades before, regularly haunt Hollywood, so no one thought such a movie would be in the pipeline any time soon. Now one of the principals is again talking about the film. This time, though, he’s given a real timeline. “Yes, we will begin production in the spring, I hope,” Dan Aykroyd revealed on Dennis Miller’s radio show a few days ago. There’s a glimmer of doubt in his last two words, but fans ignored it as they celebrated the news and began fantasy casting. But the most important role might not get filled. Aykroyd also said that the sequel would go ahead with or without the star of the first two films, Bill Murray.
“We will be doing the movie, and hopefully with Mr. Murray — that is our hope,” Aykroyd said on the air. But, using carefully chosen words, the actor indicated producers don’t think they need Murray to make the film. “We have an excellent script, and what we have to remember is that ‘Ghostbusters’ is kind of bigger than any one component. Although Billy was absolutely the lead and was contributive to it in a massive way,” he said, adding that he, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, and director Ivan Reitman were also big contributors — as if it needed to be said. “The concept is bigger than an individual role.”
Murray actually talked about a possible ‘Ghostbusters 3’ six months ago. He seemed to believe a film was inevitable, but wasn’t too keen to move on it.
“Ivan wants to make it and I owe him, you know. He’s puzzled that I haven’t gotten to this one,” Murray told Howard Stern on his radio show. A script already existed back then, and Stern asked the actor how long it had been on his desk. He replied, “Well, it may not be on the desk. It’s over there somewhere. How long? I don’t know.”Murray said he’d read it eventually, though.
Even if Murray joins the team again, don’t look for the boys to get right back down to business. The characters from the 1984 original and 1989 sequel are older, if not wiser. “The promise of ‘Ghostbusters 3’ is that we get to hand the equipment and the franchise down to new blood. Because my character, Ray, is now blind in one eye, can’t drive the Cadillac, has a bad hip, a bad knee, can’t pick up the [proton pack]. Egon is too large to get into the harness. So we need young blood. And that’s the promise: we’re going to hand it to a new generation.”
Sounds like something of a reboot, then. Plenty of young stars have been rumored to be in talks — such as Anna Faris and Eliza Dushku, both eminently suited to the task — but nothing has been announced. Aykroyd has his own ideas, though.
“I like this guy Matthew Gray Gubler? from the ‘Criminal Minds’ show. But it’s going to be a casting, we’re going to see everyone who wants to do it,” he said. “We need three guys and a young woman.”
Aykroyd has a good eye for talent. Gubler is one of the highlights of the show that lost its star (Mandy Patinkin), in which he plays a brainy young eccentric.
It seems likely that Murray will return as one of the vets. He seems to know he’s part of a legacy. As he told Stern, “There are still kids today that watch this movie and love it. It’s still very popular. They still sell a lot of toys and everything.”
Kelly Jane Torrance is The Washington Examiner movie critic. Her reviews appears weekly and she can be reached a ktorrance @washingotnexaminer.com.
