Bill Murray is famously a tough man to get a hold of. He’s not one of those actors with an agent pestering him with calls about work; what he has is a voicemail only an elite few know about, and which he rarely checks. He’s missed out on big roles, those he’s wanted and those he hasn’t. So perhaps this is a bit of a surprise: He’s officially set to return as Peter Venkman, one of the four heroes of the original two Ghostbusters, in the reboot/sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
The scoop was scored by Vanity Fair, who got the news from the horse’s mouth. While speaking to the publication, Murray confirmed he’d be joining fellow stars Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson, themselves back as fellow ’busters Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore. Sadly, Harold Ramis, aka Egon Spengler, passed away in 2014.
“Well, we are a man down. That’s the deal,” Murray told the publication. “And that’s the story that we’re telling, that’s the story they’ve written.”
Afterlife is is connected to the first two films while almost certainly ignoring the all-female reboot from 2016. The story revolves around a small town family, and while it’s not clear how prominent the original cast members will be, Murray says they have “a meaningful role in the movie, but they won’t be the central heroes this time.”
Murray also gave the project his blessing. “The script is good,” Murray said. “It’s got lots of emotion in it. It’s got lots of family in it, with through lines that are really interesting. It’s gonna work.”
Of course, Murray — and Aykroyd, and Hudson, and even Ramis, in bust-form — returned for the 2016 Ghostbusters, albeit as different characters. Murray played an evil debunker of the paranormal, who met an appropriately grisly fate. Finger crossed the same thing doesn’t befall Peter Venkman.
(Via Vanity Fair)
