Last weekend’s Ghostbusters Fan Fest provided us with a number of useful little tidbits about the much-anticipated Ghostbusters 3. Most exciting for a franchise fan like me was the revelation that director Jason Reitman had secured the original dailies of the 1984 shoot, clips of which were played to a clearly delighted audience. But there was one bit of extremely positive news that’s certain to raise the spirits of longtime followers: the return of much of the original cast.
We heard confirmation last week that Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Dan Ackroyd and Ernie Hudson are confirmed to be reprising their roles for the film, which is currently being referred to as Ghostbusters ’20. Obviously, Ackroyd and Hudson returning isn’t a huge surprise, but Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver? Now that’s a turn up for the books! After all, Murray has been notoriously reticent to return to the role of Peter Venkman, arguing that nobody wants to see a load of fat old guys chasing ghosts about.
But we’ve now had confirmation that the original cast has read Reitman’s screenplay, and the verdict is extremely positive. Dan Ackroyd went into as much detail as he could, calling it “a beautiful script.”
“I can’t say too much about it but it’s going to get made and hopefully there’ll be some familiar faces. It’s so different from even the first and second [film]. This just takes it to a new generation and a new direction that is so warm, heartfelt and indeed, quite scary when you confront some of the issues that are being discussed.”
The very fact that Murray has agreed to appear in the film is also a rubber stamp of sorts. He’s always claimed the script would have to be something truly special to secure his involvement, with him giving a thumbs down to various Ghostbusters sequels over the years.
Aside from the old guard, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Carrie Coon are all attached to the project and it’s likely that there are more stars who’ll tie their names to the feature as time goes on. But for right now, this looks like a very solid cast, a great script and a talented director. Roll on Ghostbusters 3.