By Brent McKnight | 8 years ago

Will he/won’t he has been the question regarding Bill Murray and the long-rumored Ghostbusters 3. Some reports have him on board, others say he tore up the script. It’s a tiring cycle of speculation and hearsay. One installment of this rumor parade had Murray coming back as Peter Venkman’s ghost, and others have the old Ghostbuster team handing off the reigns of the franchise to a younger generation. Both of those ideas cause me to crinkle up my nose and make a face like something smells bad.

Everyone assumes that they’ve yet to settle on a decent script, and Murray confirmed as much when he was on with Letterman.

I think the look on Murray’s face when Letterman brings up the topic of Ghostbusters 3 says more than any of his actual words. You can tell he fields that question more often than he likes, and he doesn’t look particularly interested. Though he doesn’t come out and openly bash the script, he does exactly that in as diplomatic a way as possible. Statements like, “You have to have a good script,” and “We’ll try again,” definitely imply that he doesn’t think much of what he’s seen so far.

Murray then admits he’s dragging his feet with Ghostbusters 3. In a world where everyone rushes to crank out sequel after sequel for every moderately successful film, it’s nice to see someone who wants to take it slow and actually make a movie that lives up to the original.

I adore Ghostbusters—even Ghostbusters 2—and would love to see it become a trilogy. But at the same time I’d rather be left in limbo, wondering about what could have been, than be subjected to a subpar third film that tarnishes the memory of the others. Speculation is way more fun than disappointment.