There are plenty of reasons to explain its middling critical reception and poor box office performance, but it doesn’t change the basic facts – 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot failed to capture the attention of longtime fans and series newcomers, and any hope of a follow-up was quickly dashed when the numbers started trickling in. The Paul Feig-directed action flick had a $144 million production budget, and even though it ultimately brought in close to $230 million, it’s likely that Columbia Pictures took a loss once you factor in advertising and other miscellaneous costs.
Ever since it was first announced, the reboot drew ire and criticism from all over, with some taking aim at the new, female team of Ghostbusters. A few of the film’s cast members weighed in on the negative attention, and a couple celebs attributed the poor box office run to internet trolls and haters. Recently though, Bill Murray (who played Peter Venkman in the first two movies), sat down with IndieWire and shed some light on why he chose to accept a role in the all-female reboot.
It’s not entirely clear from his interview, but one gets the impression he took on the part to prevent any rumors or speculation that he was not supportive of the franchise’s new direction.
“I was in that movie just because they asked me, and I knew if I said no, I was saying I didn’t support that movie,” Murray told IndieWire. “I felt like, OK, I’m going to support them because I support them as people. So I did that one and I would do this next one.”
Thankfully, it looks like we haven’t seen the last of Peter Venkman. Bill Murray is set to appear in next year’s untitled Ghostbusters project, alongside series mainstays Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts. If you’re dead set on reliving your favorite poltergeist poaching memories sooner than that though, you should turn your attention to the newly-released 35th anniversary edition Blu-Ray, which contains a few infamous deleted scenes.