Rick Moranis Talks ‘Ghostbusters 3’, Calls ‘Ghostbusters 2’ A Disappointment

Rick Moranis has been giving interviews about his new album, My Mother’s Brisket & Other Love Songs, out now. We’ve already gone over why he took such a long break from acting and 15 reasons he should come back, so we won’t retread that. What we will do is enjoy the schadenfreude of Rick Moranis calling Ghostbusters 2 “a disappointment”.

In an interview to be printed in tomorrow’s issue of Empire, Moranis said he’d only reprise his lawyer/accountant character Louis Tully in Ghostbusters 3 if it’s going to be good, but he hasn’t spoken directly to Dan Aykroyd about it. He tells Empire, “I’m not interested in doing anything I’ve already done, and I thought the second one was a disappointment.” Tryin’ to mess with my boys? That’s not legal.

He goes on, “I’m interested in where that guy is now. I sort of see him as being Bernie Madoff’s cellmate in jail. Both of them being so orderly that they race to get up and make their beds.” Really? I imagined him in a gimp box under Annie Potts’ bed. Just me? Oh. Okay then. *slides Ghostbusters 3 spec script under a pile of papers*

For what it’s worth, Bill Murray doesn’t seem to be interested in Ghostbusters 3, yet Dan Aykroyd is still planning multiple Murray-less sequels. Moranis is smart to ask for more information before committing to that.

In another interview this week, Rick Moranis spoke to Brian Abrams of Heebmagazine about his not-actual-retirement, Ghostbusters 2, Spaceballs 2, the awfulness of airports, and other topics.

Rick Moranis: I got a call three or four years ago from an associate of Aykroyd’s. Some sort of producer. And he said, “Listen, I gotta ask you something, because the Internet says you’re retired”—which is one of my favorites, by the way.
Brian Abrams: When the Internet says you’re retired?
RM: I just love when the Internet is wrong. It’s the only thing that will save journalism. So he says, “I gotta ask, would you do it?” I said, “I don’t say no to anything until everything is presented to me.” What is it? Is it happening? Is there a script? What’s the part? Who else is in it? Where is it? How long is it gonna take? You know, I need a little bit more information. “But it’s something you would do?” he asks. Do I have to answer that?
BA: He needs that confirmation, so he can go back to people and make his deal.
RM: Yeah. That’s called “producing.” I got this, and I got this. Gimme some money.

His weariness with the weird way movies get done (or don’t get done) is understandable. He spoke at length about it in a recent Nerdist podcast and also hinted at it in this interview with Abrams. “The need to do publicity and everything other than the work is not something that I set out to do.” Moranis says, “For some people it is. They want that. They want the connection to the audience. They want their name in the paper. For me, that was just a by-product of the work’s success. I didn’t really seek out any of that stuff.”

We’d be totally cool with him seeking out that stuff, though. Just sayin’.

(H/T: The Mary Sue. Banner picture courtesy Columbia Pictures.)

×