Ghostbusters 3 to go into production

Hollywood has been pushing to make a third Ghostbusters for years, but nothing has ever really come of it. The big obstacle, all along, has been Bill Murray. Simply put, Bill isn’t very enthusiastic idea. So the project has stalled despite several different attempts because the people behind it know as well as we do that, well, no one wants to see a Ghostbusters movie without Bill Murray in it.

Eventually though, the promise of the potential money to be made was bound to outweigh any sense of loyalty to Murray and it sounds like Ghostbusters 3 is at last full steam ahead, whether Bill is involved or not.

Original Ghostbuster Dan Akyroyd, and one of the biggest driving forces behind Ghostbusters 3, appeared on the Dennis Miller Radio Show earlier today and talked about their plans for the sequel. He says rather definitively, “we begin production in the spring, I hope.” That’s the first time anyone has really set a date. Why are they suddenly moving forward? Because they’ve given up on Bill Murray.

At least that’s my take away from the full interview, which you can listen to here. In it Akyroyd says:

We will be doing the movie. And hopefully with Mr. Murray. That is our hope. We have an excellent script and uh, 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… The concept is much bigger than an individual role.


Translation: We really want Bill involved but we’re not going to sit around waiting on him anymore. This movie is happening with or without him.

In the end, it may not even matter. The way Akyroyd talks about the movie, the original Ghostbusters will only be there to hand their proton packs over to a bunch of younger actors. He explains:

The promise of Ghostbusters 3 is that we get to hand the equipment and the franchise down to new blood. We are going to hand it to a new generation.

So for anyone hoping to see Akyroyd, Ramis, Murray and the rest off on another adventure: forget it. Whether or not they have Murray this movie is now all about handing things over to a bunch of kids designed to fit a specific demographic. They even have it mapped out. When talking about who they’ll cast as the new Ghostbusters Akyroyd says, “one woman and a man.”

As for whether or not they have anyone specific in mind, Akyroyd hints: “I like this guy Matthew Grey Gubler from the Criminal Minds show.”

[Bill] was contributive to it in a massive way