For the dozens of you that emailed and asked why this wasn’t up already, here’s the short answer;
It’s not as amazing as the rest of the web is making it out to be, so why hurry? And similarly, this one site cannot fight an Internet rumour tide, so with every site in the world posting this as a super serious scoop, why bother? I’ve got a day job, and this doesn’t qualify as “ignore the day job” type news. Interesting, yes. Hard fact? No. Until an Aykroyd or Ramis or Reitman pipes up, this is just the usual GB3 chatter.
Out promoting the crap out of Avatar, Sigourney Weaver is this week’s “Ghostbusters Alumni with the Most Press Coverage”, meaning the press are artificially weighting her comments as more true than any previous comments made by anyone even remotely involved with a third Ghostbusters film. However, this only confuses the issue.
It should be pointed out, again and again, that no one person has all the answers – even guys like Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, who are heavily involved, still cannot swear what they known hasn’t or won’t be altered by the studio.
But that doesn’t matter, because Sigourney Weaver is talking and it’s gospel and we should all treat it as immutable and argue about it as such because it will never ever change between now and the movie getting made.
First up;
BILL MURRAY IS THE ONLY GHOSTBUSTER RETURNING!
The interest in the third film appears to be ramping up, but Weaver said that after talking to Ivan Reitman, director of the previous “Ghostbusters” films in 1984 and 1989, she says she doesn’t expect to be part of the franchise’s new afterlife.
“As far as I know, I think Bill [Murray] is actually the only one in it,” Weaver said. “That may be wrong — the last time I talked to Ivan was a couple of months ago. It’s not meant at this point to be a reunion of our particular group of ‘Ghostbusters’ at this point, it’s a younger group. My only wish is that Oscar, my [on-screen] baby in ‘Ghostbusters II,’ has grown up to be a Ghostbuster, too.”
I call bullshit. And again, not because I think she’s lying – why would she lie? – but rather because I don’t think she has all the info. It could be that Ivan Reitman shared some stray thought de jour, which will be canned and replaced by production time.
I can believe that she might not be returning. As much as we love Dana, it would be weird to just have her there and bizarre if she’s the focus of cataclysm yet again (this was the plan for the video game, but when she passed and a new character replaced Dana, that idea of her being a supernatural trouble-magnet was cut short.)
Speaking of the video game – how can a studio see how excited people were with all the Ghostbusters coming back and decide that only Murray should appear in the third movie?
But the nail in this rumour coffin is that in another interview she’s dug up an old, long-thought-dead chestnut;
BILL MURRAY’S CHARACTER WILL COME BACK AS A GHOST!
Again, bullshit. This was long ago revealed as a joke that took on a life of it’s own. Recent interest by Bill Murray has increased the likelihood of his return as Peter, but not as a ghost.
It’s not helping that Ain’t It Cool News, in their usual, hysterical, and non-contextual way, have posted this as a real possibility. Nothing’s impossible, but when measured against recent comments on the matter some months back, in which it is referred to as a joke from ten years back when a third movie was first attempted, it’s very unlikely.
The fact that Weaver her self made a joke production out of spilling these particularly beans means it shouldn’t be take that seriously at all. But then, Ain’t It Cool News would have one less post today, and their motto ain’t “less is more.” Oh look, everyone else has taken it at face value too! Oh good. Thankfully, Slash/Film is being smarter about it.
A big thanks to all of you that emailed me. I doubt I could have missed this one, but thanks for thinking of PC. I’d name you all, but it would take twice as long as it took to write this post. And I put tiiiime into these posts.
[UPDATE]
A little something from last year;
Weaver wasn’t sure if there was a place for her in the story but she did think someone deserves a spot. “I would hope that my little Oscar would be one of the Ghostbusters even if I’m not in it!”
From today’s interview;
“My only wish is that Oscar, my [on-screen] baby in ‘Ghostbusters II,’ has grown up to be a Ghostbuster, too.”
A small demonstration that sometimes, old talking points carry on for ages.
[UPDATE]
From Ain’t It Cool News – FOUR YEARS AGO, (and reported here, naturally);
And we had the script all worked out. Danny and I had the story and Murray got really… Murray’s so cantankerous, you know. Dan called him and said, “Would you be in the movie?” And he said, “I’ll be in the movie… but only as a ghost.”
Again, Weaver is most likely rehashing an old talking point as a joke, and this is just confirmation that it is in fact very, very old. It’s outdated news (it was outdated when Ramis referenced it in 2005) – it is NOT a scoop today. Thought, had anyone had the presence of mind at AICN to link the two, an argument could have been made (ie Weaver says Murray as Ghost, old AICN interview says Murray as ghost = truth!)
Doesn’t matter, the damage is done – this is now getting picked up AROUND THE WORLD! Now you see why I didn’t bother to get out of bed for this “news.”
Not logged in 
I’m glad you didn’t post on this, Chris. Other forums I frequent are freaking out about it and I would only have expected you to clear up the confusion. Which you did in spades. How much do you want to bet half of the community is still going to treat what she said as gospel, though?
why do people even visit these phony websites?
(and I don’t mean “these” as in “PC+…….”, just to be clear…!)
Bill Murray’s cameo in Zombieland reminded me of the old Bill Murray plays a ghost rumors.
It’s not phony so much as they are general movie news sites that survive on traffic – so, specifics do not matter to them, they just want to draw people in. And most of the time, their news is good enough. But there are times like this, when we, as people who pay WAAAAY too much attention to this film, know it’s wrong or out of context or whatever.
So, the way I look at it, tens of thousands of readers in the know come here, and the other millions go there, and in the end, it doesn’t really matter much, other than it confuses this here a bit, gives me a minor email headache (which I’ve essentially invited by having this site), and it’ll blow over in a week.
It’s the Internet – if anything turns out to be true, they’ll crow they were there first. And if it’s not, it’s faded away and no one will remember.
I do not pity future cyber-archaeologists who will have to pour through all this mish-mash.
The only thing that could make me sadder than to go watch 60 year-old ghostbusters, is go see dead ghostbusters. Bill Murray saying he’d only play Peter Venkman again if Venkman was a ghost, sounds like typical Bill Murray sense of humor.
I could beleive that BIll would havea bigger part then the other busters. I mean look at what Aykroyd said a while back:
“I know we’ll make that happen. But there will be a whole new generation that has to be trained, and that whole new generation will be led by an individual who you’ll all love when you meet him but I’m not going to tell you anything yet.”
I think the individual could be Murray if he’s the one training the new guys. Maybe a twist in the plot ends Murray to land on the other side…
But who knows for sure, we’ll just have to wait until the new year when the studios make their announcement of what’s going into production for the year. Hopefully more news will surface in the weeks to come.
“An individual who you’ll all love when you meet him but I’m not going to tell you anything yet.”
Only we’ve met Murray and Venkman already. We already love him and don’t have to meet him to figure that out.
Dude quit the b.s, you were busy and didn’t have time to throw Weavers interview up. A big rant on popular websites is unnecessary. You’ve put up headlines on Ernie Hudson saying they’d be filming in the fall. Well Dana had a bigger part then Winston in the original two films. It is news, and all the news from the cast should be taken at face value.
As for the subject, I don’t know what to think. Murray seems out of the loop, so I doubt Weaver would know anything if the main lead himself doesn’t know anything. It’s hard to tell if she is joking though. From what I understand Venkman was a ghost in Aykroyds hellbent script. So perhaps that carried over. I could see her getting confused with the idea that the originals would only be making a brief cameo, and translating that into them not being in it. Maybe she doesn’t consider cameos as actual roles.
Also think about the lazy mans script (lazy man=year one writers). Oscar becomes a ghostbuster to find some closure with the loss of his father, or tries to track his fathers ghost down. Everyone knows who Oscar is, everyone knows who his father/ step father is. It is easy writing without a lot of thinking.
Well if ther are filming in the fall, then we should hear more come the first quarter of the new year, along with deets on the 3rd batman film as well.
In the mean time, looks like we’ll just have to sit tight and wait until everything is set in stone and the studio/actors can start talking about the project more openly.
Drake, you’ve been here before, right?
Yes, everyone has their say, and everyone gets run through the same basic analysis.
You can defend Weaver all you want, that’s fine, my objection is not to her or even her comments. I place no weight on her comments for the reasons given, but she can say what she wants.
The BS is from the other sites that continue to over inflate stupid stuff. Like when WENN, a news service which would squarely qualify as a more popular site than here (I’m pretty sure I copped to this being a small site with little influence with the mainstream masses too, but hey, keep swinging for my head slugger) completely fabricated a story that Harold Ramis said Ben Stiller was going to be in GB3 – that story went nuts too, and it was just as much BS and I said as much then.
That’s what PC does.
And yeah, I’m pretty sure I admitted I couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed for stupid stuff. Call it lazy if you want. I feel well rested in any case.
The following is from the Yorkshire Post, it’s from october. Link is dead but it’s safe in GBFans’ forum: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=7357&start=120
Here we go:
“The spectre of Ghostbusters III raises its head. It’s 20 years since the last film. Sigourney Weaver has just turned 60, Dan Aykroyd is 57, Harold Ramis is 64.
Murray himself, playing Peter Venkman, turns 60 in 2010. Maybe they’ve all left it too late for a third outing, now thought to be imminent. Murray smiles.
‘Once upon a time, I said ‘Yeah, I’ll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.’ Then recently in the mail I got this note from Aykroyd and it was a note to the writers. They hired these guys who write The Office in the US to write it. I got sent the notes and they said ‘Venkman will die early on’. So now they are going to have me as a ghost throughout the movie.
‘That’s not bad. It could be funny.’
Bill Murray can sniff out a funny line at 100 yards. If he says it’s funny, it probably will be.”
That’s it, so far. I still hope it’s another stupid “Ben Stiller” rumour, but why brings Murray that story back – and is quoted by Weaver now? I don’t feel very safe.
TB,
Here’s the link, for what it’s worth: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/film/Bill-Murray-foxes-critics-with.5761405.jp
The only FACT out of all of this is that none of us know anything for sure. None of us. Yes….the Murray/Ghost comment was laughed at in the past, but the fact that it keeps coming up raises at least one of my eyebrows. Even if it was proven in the past as a rumor, it is ENTIRELY possible that the current writers went “you know that Venkman/Ghost idea?….what if we actually used it and did this?”
Weaver doesn’t really confirm or deny this for me. She is, after all, Sigourney Weaver, and she very well may be in the new movie….which should grant her some amount of credibility. However, her apparent lack of passion for Ghostbusters gives any passionate fan the right to argue to fact that they may very well know more about what’s going on with Ghostbusters 3 than she does.
I knew this was bullshit when I read it on Friday. Dan has had the chance to make the movie in the past but didn’t because bill wasn’t going to be apart of it. Why in the hell would he let a third incarnation of his baby be made without him in it? I mean come on really???? Through the reliable source I have the only thing true about that article is that Bill is officially on board but I cant prove that so however I do trust my source because they have never let me down in the past and I do mean Never.
Just for the record If they go with the venkman ghost Idea it will tank.
“Venkman will die early on.” – Bill Murray
This makes me one sad panda…but we’ll see how they handle it. Hopefully they’ll be an essential service and will have a 21 salute to him just as if some one from the 911 service dies.
At least they’re being more original than GB II.
…………That will flat out ruin the movie let a lone the franchise. Now i can see someone writing a story that takes place a hundred years from now then they would all have to be dead but come on, it wont happen.
Always a level headed voice. Thank you sir.
Any Ghostbusters is better than no Ghostbusters…especially when you’re talking about the original cast being involved! I’m looking forward to ANYTHING they do!
……..and Ghostbusters II kicks ass.
Ghost busters 2 was a good movie but not better than the first. I do not want a third movie just to have one Josh thats just like making a sequel just for the sake of it. Look at 90% of Disney sequels. Such as Cronks new groove. Why? why did we need that? There was absolutely NO REASON to continue the story. The same can be said about ghost busters however I want a new movie to just like other people but if they are going to start killing off characters that I loved from my child hood then its just flat out not the same and as a dedicated fan I think I can speak for the more sensible people here by saying not only as an actor/writer but as a hard core ghost busters fan that killing one of the original 4 ghost busters off just to try and make a joke out of it is absolutely the worst idea that they could have come up with. Its not creative its not original if anything its a cheap way out for bill not wanting to do another movie.
I personally as a fan don’t want to settle for just anything so long as it has ghost busters in the title that’s just stupid that’s like looking at the ugly fat chick when your in your mid 40′s and going “well i guess that will have to do” If you believe your better than that then why settle for less than what you deserve? Same thing here. I think as fans we have very very patiently waited since 1989 for a sequel that is not only fun in story but something that will take us back and give that nostalgic feel but will make us glad we payed 12.95 to go see it and make us want to go see it over and over again.
Killing one of the original cast would personally make me get up and walk out of the theater. Ive got no interest in going to see ghost busters die. End of story. Don’t settle for less Josh Killing a core member in the film would be settling for less just to have something that bares the ghost busters name. I don’t think anyone here really wants that. Anyone who gives a damn about the third movie anyway.
the story could work if some rookie kills peter off by mistake and then ray, egon and winston have to cross over and bring him back. this would work cause it would introduce new members but focus on the original members
The thing I don’t like about this new movie is that it seems very obvious that the original four will not be the focus. Murray even said that the studio basically just wants them to open the movie and then go away. If that’s the case I’m not sure I really want another movie.
Besides Dan Aykroyd seems to think he’s 80 years old or something, says he’s too old to even drive the car in a interview. Instead of fighting for the original four to be a focus of the movie he’s basically just not even trying. I mean look at Harrison Ford, he’s ten years older than Aykroyd is and in very good shape.
Santar where do you get this stuff? Maybe Dan Does think he’s older than he really is but your only as old as you feel right? Also maybe Dan has some health problems that he isn’t sharing with the rest of the world so you have to take that in to consideration as well. Though I hope, seriously hope that is not the case. I’m not asking you to link me to anything i dont care. You all have to realize that every single thing we see in online reports are just that. I personaly dont trust many “reputible online sources” When I see a video will bill or dan talking about gb3 and the contents of the script then thats what Im going to go with.
For example there was a video on gbfans not long ago with bill being interviewed in england at the fantastic fox premier and he said “I dont want to do another movie just to do one. We’ve done that before and it just what it should have been” He then said ” I havnt seen a script and until I do I’m not going to say yes or no” The very next day a link to a Murray interview was posted to gbfans saying that he had read a script and that they want the original guys to open the movie and just disappear and then he says he wasn’t crazy about it. So you tell me. I personally would rather believe what I hear out of there mouths from an interview weather it be audio or video. I am not saying that all online sites that only dictate the interviews they have given are false or made up but there are so many of them out there that get there info wrong that its hard to trust one source. IGN for a short example. Half the time the info I get from there is bogus but that’s just the experience i had with them.
What I am getting at is this. We ALL spend so much time SPECULATING and reading all these “interviews” from these “reputable sources” that it all blows up into a bunch of garbage and that’s all it is garbage. We dont know ANYTHING until
Jason I get what your saying and its not a terrible idea but I think you are thinking more along the lines of something the fans would be OK with and that’s true. Id dig that if it happened, however you have to think about the over all audience its trying to reach. Yes you have to take into account you are trying to reach the fans but also your trying to reach a new generation and personally I don’t think that particular story would work plus I mean we just saw crossing back and fourth to the ghost world in the new game so I mean you don’t want to rely on that to much.
despite all the plastic surgery i’m sure weaver has had to make her look younger than she actually is, i think that maybe she is just getting a little senile now that she’s reached her 60′s she probably doesn’t have the memory that she used to. i wouldn’t mind seeing her have a cameo in the film, just not an important role, i think they should imply that she ended up marrying louis tully, and maybe he is the biological father of oscar after all. that way janine is free to marry egon, think about it, ghostbusters 3 could have the funeral of venkman and the marriage of janine and egon, what ghostbusters fan wouldn’t pay 10 bucks for that?
……….In order to have….OK never mind…….This cant be just for the fans guys think out side the box a little here…. If it was just for the fans, if the studio and Dan and all of those wanted to do a 3rd movie just for the fans then we would probably be up to ghostbusters 6 at this point.
Considering that just a few years ago Ghostbusters 3 was dead in the water, I absolutely consider myself lucky to be getting another movie at all, let alone live action with the original cast. If GB3 sucks, then I’ll continue watching 1 & 2. But if it’s good (which I’m sure it will be seeing as how Dan and Harold have their hands in it) then I’ll have another movie to enjoy. Either way, every Ghostbuster fan is in a much more preferable position than we were a few years ago.
Not that I feel I have to defend my fandom of Ghostbusters, because that would be rediculous……but I do give a damn about the 3rd movie. I want it to be the absolute best it can be. But I’m not making the movie….the filmmakers are. And seeing as how the last two times Ghostbusters was visited in film were awesome, I’m comfortable in that responsibility resting with the filmmakers. I’ll wait and see what it is, rather than hearing a rumor and ranting about how it won’t work at all and how it is the dumbest idea ever and insist that my OPINION is the only correct opinion. That seems pretty sensible to me.
It’s like Y2K, where some people were running around screaming that something horrible was going to happen, and in the end, all that screaming was a waste of air. Now, I realize that this analogy isn’t as good at the “ugly fat chick” analogy, but it’s what it is.
I am not in anyway insinuating that my opinion is the correct one lets get that straight right now sir. You have every right to your opinion as much as anyone else here does. But it seemed to me when you said and i quote “Any Ghostbusters is better than no Ghostbusters…especially when you’re talking about the original cast being involved! I’m looking forward to ANYTHING they do!” That as long as you get a gb3 then that’s all that matters and that’s exactly what I feel you said with that statement.
You can argue that you trust the film makers all you want but I want you to go back and think about other films that may have been trusted with other fans such as Hulk Elektra ghost rider super man returns the list goes on. I’m saying as a writer and an actor using venkman as a ghost for any kind of joke or plot device for a third movie it will most likely fail that’s MY opinion you can have yours all you want im not saying you cant. But that statement that basically said as long as I get gb3 I’ll be happy just seemed like you didn’t care how good the story was or what happened to the characters at all. That’s the reason i made the comments that I did.
If Bill Murray is in this movie gentlemen, then it’s gotta be a pretty good script. Bill never wanted another film before… hence the “if I came back as a Ghost” statement he made (which was in the 90s). Him and Harold had a falling out during the filming of Groundhog Day. It was never about him wanting another GB film…it was about working with Harold again. Hopefully he has let enough time pass by that he’s finally ready…I wonder how Harold is feeling about Bill wanting to work with him again…interesting.
With that said, Josh’s opinion is right. The fact that we’ll get another film up on Screen baring the Ghostbusters title……a film I’ve been waiting IMPATIENTLY to see for many years… we are all blessed to see just that fact alone come to happen. And the fact that ALL of the original GBs have agreed to be in it??? Out-freakin-standing. Bill Murray after all this time and the falling out with Harold is agreeing to be in it??? Holy-freakin-cow.
So, like Josh said originally, if it’s bad, I’ve still got 1 & 2 to watch. But it still would happen…we still after all of the waiting will get some sort of Ghostbusters 3, which I’ll be more than thankful for. Even if it’s 112 minutes of the music and the logo.
Oh, on another note, I think a critic from RottenTomatoes.com said this best about Ghostbusters II when he said, “Bottom line: with Murray on fire and enough clever dialogue to rival its predecessor, Ghostbusters II is good enough to put post-milennial comedy to shame”.
Hey you…don’t let the bed bugs a bite.
Address for my Harold and Bill falling out info:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/04/19/040419fa_fact3?currentPage =7
This is WAY off topic, I realize, but I feel strong about this and I’ll just leave it at this…..I think Superman Returns was a GREAT movie!
I just think since there are so many tidbits about this Venkman dying/ghost thing (both very old and recent) it might actually have some merit. And who knows, he might just be dead temporarely (spelling?) to cross over to the spirit world or something?
Bah, when you think about how many amazing stories they could pull off it just makes me sad that the movie will 99% certainly be about some new recruits.
And I liked dare devil but a lot of people didn’t to each there own. What im getting at here is that if you want to reach the over all public not just the fans then you have to think outside the box and personally i don’t think venkman dying in the film is doing that. Super man returns wasn’t horrible but it could have been way better. When I go to see a movie about a super hero i expect to see him fight every once in a while the closest he got to fighting was getting the living shit kicked out of him and that’s about it. Id have changed that personally. It just didn’t make him seem very super if you ask me.
I understand the “to each their own”, and that’s cool. And by the way, I agree about Dare Devil….it was pretty good…sequel worthy.
Superman Returns was about the relationship between Superman and Lois and the internal stuggle Superman was dealing with from coming back after the world was used to not having him. It was never meant to be a “shoot ‘em up, shoot ‘em up, pow pow” movie. It had it’s elements of action and drama. I know a lot of fans and non-fans alike were disappointed with the lack of action, but the story didn’t warrant it. I, however, can understand people wanting to see Superman kick more ass……that’s awesome. If Brian Singer was given a chance to do a sequel to Returns, I believe he would have given that to us. UNFORTUNATELY, and sadly, Brian Singer isn’t going to get that chance.
I just ask anyone who was disappointed with Superman Returns because of the lack of action to watch it again…knowing now what it is. I’m sure a second chance can help anyone in their right mind see the brilliance that Returns is.
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