Ghostbusters 3 has been in development for years, and throughout the process, the question has loomed large and been much debated about whether the legendary Bill Murray will or won’t be involved.
Last summer, Dan Aykroyd said that the third film would shoot in early 2012, with or without Murray, but the first half of this year has come and gone, and still nothing has been filmed.
In an interview Aykroyd had with the Metro, discussing his new show Jazz FM here in the UK (on Sundays from 2-4p.m.), the topic of Ghostbusters 3 of course came up, and Aykroyd said that, reluctant though he was, Murray would not be returning for the sequel:
“Is Ghostbusters 3 finally happening?
Yes, we’ve got a brilliant new writer on it and we’ll be passing the torch on to a new generation. We’re working on it to make it just right to satisfy our fans. I’m confident we’ll be in production in the next year.
It’s been a long process, hasn’t it?
Yes, but now we’ve got the studio on side. We’ve tried a few concepts which weren’t right but now we’ve got a good structure and will make it happen.
Is Bill Murray doing it?
No, I can tell you he won’t be involved.
How do you feel about that?
It’s sad but we’re passing it on to a new generation. Ghostbusters 3 can be a successful movie without Bill. My preference would be to have him involved but at this point he doesn’t seem to be coming and we have to move on. It’s time to make the third one.”
Production has been hoping to get underway for the best part of a few years now, but with a new writer on board, and the studio committed to seeing it through, this may finally be the time that it all starts running a little more smoothly.
Alas, it looks like Murray won’t be returning to bust any more ghosts this time around, at least in any leading/supporting capacity. But we’ll remain quietly optimistic that he might decide to make a small little cameo somewhere in the film, if and when filming does get underway. More as we get it.
