Sigourney Weaver Says They Won’t Do Ghostbusters III Without Bill Murray
Things are looking less certain for the third Ghostbusters, if what Sigourney Weaver said in this recent interview is true. Ghostbusters III may be without a cast if Bill Murray doesn’t sign on to join the rest of the original cast members in the film.
As we previously reported, based on comments made by Dan Aykroyd, it looked like Ghostbusters III was set to move forward with or without Bill Murray on board to reprise his role as the sarcastic but lovable Pete Venkman. When our own Eric Eisenberg sat down with Sigourney Weaver, she too sounded hopeful about the prospect of the sequel. Though she hadn’t seen the script, she did suggest the scenario that Peter Venkman is dead.
Now, based on a recent interview with Collider, it sounds like none of the cast will return for the movie if Murray isn’t on board. The site asked Weaver if she’d still do the sequel without Bill Murray and her response was, “No, I don’t think any of us would do it, if Bill said no. Why would we do that? I think the whole point is to get together and have fun.” She went on to say that pressuring him to read the script would do no good. “I don’t think that works with Bill. I did actually ask him about doing The Guys, so called the 800 number and left a message, but when he doesn’t respond, you know that he’s not interested.”
If what Weaver is saying is true, there may not be a third Ghostbusters film at all. Those who dislike the idea of the classic horror-comedy being brought back in any form would certainly love that news. As someone who sees both sides of the coin, I hope Weaver’s statements are true. The Ghostbusters are four things: Ray, Egon, Winston, and Venkman. They’re a team. Louis, Janine and Dana are also necessary ingredients for the films. If they’re going to bring the film back, they should do it right and to do that, they need all of the necessary elements. That includes Bill Murray. If someone can produce a person that can in replace Bill Murray, go for it, but that’s a ridiculously tall order.
The above said, I hope Murray at least reads the script and makes his final decision after he sees what they have in mind for the third installment. It would be good news to hear that, after reading the script, he thought it was good enough to change his mind on the issue.
Weaver did say that Ivan Reitman told her that Dana’s son Oscar (“Named after a hotdog! You poor man!”) would be a Ghostbuster, should the film actually happen. At this point, it sounds like it could all be on Murray.