Bill Murray's performance as Peter Venkman in 1984's Ghostbusters solidified his spot as one of the greatest comedic actors in modern cinema, and his return for the 1989 sequel was seen by many as being even better than the original. But Murray's reluctance to star in Ghostbusters 3 has led writer Dan Aykroyd to consider recasting the role if the film ever goes before cameras, according to Empire.
This may be a common practice in the James Bond franchise, but Venkman is so closely identified with Murray that it would almost be impossible to make fans forget about the original.
Despite Murray's disinterest in the part, Aykroyd does deny the rumor that Murray tore up a copy of the Ghostbusters 3 script when he first read it.
"Bill Murray is not capable of such behaviour. This is simply something that would not be in his nature. We have a deep, private personal relationship that transcends business. We communicate frequently and his position on the involvement in Ghostbusters 3 has been made clear and I respect that. But Bill has too much positive estimation of my writing skills to shred the work."
Whether or not Murray actually tore up the script may never be known, but if Akroyd wants to avoid a fan mutiny he will either write Venkman out of the story or shelve the idea of Ghostbusters 3 altogether. As Murray was rumored to say, "No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts."
[via Empire]
