We all saw the writing on the wall. It was written in glow in the dark slime. But we all held out hope, didn’t we? I know I did. Dan Akroyd wanted it to happen, Ivan Reitman agreed to direct, and even Sigourney Weaver aknowledged interest and supplied a few ideas for how things should go for her character but according to Dan Akroyd this might be the last stand of the proposed third film for Ghostbusters.
Source: Obsessed with Film
…Last month Aykroyd admitted for the first time that the film was unlikely to happen with Murray as one of its stars and that a re-casting of the Peter Venkman role could even be required for the movie to happen…
“I honestly don’t know. At this point it’s in suspended animation,” …
…The studio, the director Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis feel there must be a way to do it, but Bill Murray will not do the movie. He doesn’t want to be involved. He’s got six kids, houses all over America. He golfs in these tournaments where they pay him to turn up and have a laugh. He’s into this life and living it. I know we’d have a lot of fun [but] I can’t be mad at him. He’s a friend first, a colleague second. We have a deep personal relationship that transcends business and he doesn’t want to know”…
Then speaking about the possible Bill Murray re-casting, Aykroyd admitted that one possibility was another acting portraying Venkman but that he didn’t want to disrespect the original;
“[We] are not going to do a movie that exploits the franchise. The script has to be perfect. I’m the cheerleader, but I’m only one voice in the matter. It’s a surety that Bill Murray will not do the movie, however there is still interest from the studio.”
I feel awful. Not just for me but for those of you kids with proton pack book bags and adults with a coffee mug with the Ghostbusters logo. I feel awful for those hundreds of cosplayers who show up to conventions with the elaborate costumes with the fine details. I feel bad for every person who bought the Ghostbusters game in 2009 hoping to spark the attention of studios that there was still an interest in the franchise. More importantly I feel awful for you: our dear readers.
Personally I wanted this film to happen as much as the next guy? Why? Because it was my favorite childhood film. I only owned one video cassette tape in my youth and I only recorded 3 films on it:
1) Ghostbusters
2) Sesame Street Follow that Bird
3) Weird Science.
I watched that VHS tape, literally, every day until I broke my VCR. After the VCR in the house broke I would round robin to my neighbors’ houses and beg to use their VCR’s just so I could watch the movie once or twice a day.
This hurts. A lot. Excuse me if go see if I can dig up that VHS tape.
