A couple weeks ago, a story broke that Dan Aykroyd called Bill Murray and asked him to "stop acting like a jerk" in reference to the proposed Ghostbusters 3. Since rumors first began as early as 2007, the man who was Peter Venkman has been nay-saying the project the entire way, and, apparently, a scolding from Aykroyd isn't going to be enough to stop it.
I had the chance to sit with Murray at a press junket for his newest film, Get Low, which is currently being screened as part of the Tribeca Film Festival, and the subject was brought up yet again. First he deferred to Sissy Spacek, who was sitting next to him, saying "Sissy knows my answer to this, she can handle it," Murray not only said that he was sick of the conversation, but that the whole thing is a pipe dream:
“It’s just a myth. It’s like the white alligator in the sewer, you know? Who’s seen it, really?”“It’s just really the movie studio. They love the franchise, they’d just like to re-create it again. All this talk is just talk. It drives me nuts, it’s just people talking. And now, it’s like, on the street people go ‘hey, hey, hey,’ you know, why don’t you go back to high school? Quit bothering me. Until someone actually creates a great script it’s just hogwash, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s interesting that people are interested in it, they’d like to see it. It was a great thing, it really was fun. Maybe it should. And if it’s such a good idea, then someone will write the screenplay.”
As much as some people may really want to see a third Ghostbusters movie, it's nearly impossible to argue with his logic. The franchise means so much to so many people, Murray included, but are we willing to sacrifice quality just for another two hours of gray jump suits and ectoplasm? The quote also raises questions regarding the script written Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, but, then again, considering those are the same guy's who wrote Year One, perhaps that's why Murray used "great" as a modifier.
