Howard Stern: Is it true that there is a Ghostbusters 3 and that you’re the problem and you will not sign off on this? Do you know about this? Bill Murray: Yeah, I guess I’m the problem. Before I was an asset, [but] now I’m a problem. There’s a script somewhere [on my desk], but I haven’t read it yet.
Why haven’t you read it? Is it because you think it’s a bullsh*t idea? In other words, Ghostbusters has had its time and you did a remarkable job with that and you’ve moved on? BM: There’s a little bit of that. I only made one sequel and it was Ghostbusters 2 and it didn’t end up the way it was presented.
About five years after we did the first one, the clever agents got us all together in a room and… we really are funny together, I mean they are funny people – Harold [Ramis] and Danny [Aykroyd] and myself, with Ivan [Reitman] and maybe one or two other people. We were just blindingly funny for about an hour or so and the agents, there was just foam coming off of them.
They had this pitch and Danny and Harold had concocted some story ideas… and it was a story, it was good story. I think I had even read one or two [scripts for Ghostbusters 2] that Danny had rolled out beforehand, but this one was a good one. I said, “Ok, we can do that one.”
It was just kind of fun to have all of us together… I mean [Rick] Moranis, Annie [Potts] – these people are just sterling people to begin with.
HS: So how do you go back and really make another? Does Ivan want to make [Ghostbusters 3]? BM: Yeah, Ivan wants to make it and I… I owe him, ya know. He’s puzzled that I haven’t gotten to this one.
HS: How long has it been sitting on your desk, this script for Ghostbusters? BM: Well, it may not be on the desk – it’s over there somewhere. How long? I don’t know.
Robin Quivers: So you have no interest? BM: Well, I’ll get to it… I gotta get to it – I feel bad. I got a message and I think people – I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings – it’s not the foremost thing in my mind, so I don’t think about it.
You know, the studio gets excited every 10 years or so. What they’d really like to do is recreate the franchise. I remember when the new Ghostbusters was going to be Chris Rock, Chris Farley and Chris Crane… Kris Kringle… someone [laughs] – that had it together.
HS: Is that a threat to you? In other words, did they try to threaten you by saying we’re going to put together a new Ghostbusters and therefore you guys will have to go do it? BM: It’s not a threat, it’s sort of businesslike – they’d like to keep it going. There are still kids today that watch this movie and love it, it’s still very popular. They still sell a lot of toys and everything.