Apparently, if Bill Murray turns down the chance to appear in Ghostbusters 3, then Sony will be pulling the plug on the movie…
Earlier this week, the director of the two Ghostbusters films to date, Ivan Reitman, was chatting about the planned upcoming Ghostbusters 3. And as he nixed many of the rumours that have swelled online about the project, he also revealed that Bill Murray has only just received the finished script of the film.
Deadline is now reporting that Ivan Reitman and Sony Pictures "have no idea if the mercurial Murray will smile on the script they've just sent him". But here's something we didn't know: "Without Murray, the studio absolutely will not make the film."
Deadline's sources tend to be strong, and if true, this means that the proposed $150m could very well lie in the whims of Bill Murray. The article quotes an insider as saying, "The studio won't even think about [moving] forward on a $150 million film unless Bill has a closed deal and a commitment.
From our point of view, Ghostbusters 3 without Bill Murray is pretty much unthinkable. And yet, from a movie business standpoint, would his non-appearance in the film do it much commercial damage? Especially as this is to be a passing of the torch movie to bring in a new, younger collection of Ghostbusters?
There's little question that Bill Murray is a comedy genius, but is he a major star whose absence would fatally damage the commercial prospects of a $150m sequel? We'd have to say no.
Still, should Murray genuinely have the casting vote, then we're absolutely not going to knock that. As it stands, if he agrees to the movie, then it's going to happen quickly. If he doesn't, then it's not going to happen at all.
Watch this space...
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