There has been a lot of talk recently about Ghostbusters III and it seems that the studios are keen to move forward with The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller at the helm, at least according to rumours. One person we know for sure who will only be in a producing role is Ivan Reitman, who directed Ghostbusters and its 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Reitman has spoken about why he turned down the project.
“It wasn’t that hard” he said. “When I came back from the funeral [of Harold Ramis], I thought it would be better to turn the director’s chores over to someone else and let me produce it.”
One of the other key factors in bringing the Ghostbusters back to the big screen is Bill Murray, who played Peter Venkman in the first two movies. However, speculation has always been around of just how much Murray would be involved with a third installment. In the interview, Reitman addressed the Internet rumours, “There were a lot of stories about how he read the script and it wasn’t up to his standards” the director said. “I think he may have read 15 to 20 pages.”
He then went on to talk about how the he had dinner with the actor regarding the movie, “[The dinner] started at about 10:30 and ended at 4 a.m. We closed down the restaurant. And he just said, ‘Look, I’m not interested in doing these movies anymore. I like doing these small parts. I don’t want to feel the weight and the burden of all that.’ And I understood it. And it came from a good place in his heart.”
So there we have it, Ghostbusters III will not feature Murray’s Venkman. Or at least in a leading role.
Originally published March 31, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
