'Ghostbusters 3': Is Bill Murray out?

'Ghostbusters 3' may be made without the comedy star who appeared in the series' first two installments

Another day, another Ghostbusters 3 update that will most likely get your hopes up the film will happen. Well, Dan Aykroyd gave an update on the film to Empire Online that could upset many Ghostbusters fan. In the interview, Aykroyd apparently suggested the idea of replacing Bill Murray with another actor to portray Peter Venkmen. “We communicate frequently and his position on the involvement in Ghostbusters 3 has been made clear and I respect that.  The script must be perfect. We cannot release a film that is any less than that. We have more work to do,” he said.

Okay, so Aykroyd doesn’t flat out say they want to replace him should he decline, but let’s consider the possibilites. My initial thought is that it wouldn’t work, and I think most would agree. The Ghostbusters films were about wisecracks, and you would be replacing the funniest one of the four. And it would seem pointless to do another film with the idea of bringing everyone back if you can’t get most people’s favorite member of  the team. Sure, Rick Moranis’ character somewhat joined the team at the end of Ghostbusters 2, but there’s no gurantee Moranis would come out of retirement. Although, Aykroyd is attempting to convince him.

When it’s all said and done, it would definitely seem like a horrible idea to recast Murray. But perhaps Aykroyd’s words were misunderstood.

Matt Keith blogs at Killer Film.