After years of turning down the idea and essentially saying no in every way possible, it was a bit of a surprise when, earlier this month, it was reported that Bill Murray would pop up in Paul Feig‘s "Ghostbusters" reboot starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. So what made him do it? The money? The fame? Well, he’s got plenty of both already. Rather it seems he wanted to support the new crew while also try and stop any bad reviews that blamed his non-appearance in its tracks.
“That’s true, I wasn’t [into the idea]” Murray told Vulture about his long-running disinterest in returning to franchise. But eventually his arm was twisted. “I like those girls a lot. I mean, I really do. They are tough to say no to. And Paul is a real nice fellow.”
However, there were other considerations that swayed him as well. “I thought about it for a very long time,” he said. “Like, many, many months. No, that’s not right. I was seriously thinking about this for years, really … It kept eating at me, and I really respect those girls. And then I started to feel like if I didn’t do this movie, maybe somebody would write a bad review or something, thinking there was some sort of disapproval [on my part].”
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
As for the role Murray will be playing, the rumor is that he won’t be Dr. Peter Venkman. In fact, Showbiz 411 reports that he’ll be "an all new character, an actual debunker of Ghostbusters." So wait, will Murray be playing someone in the vein William Atheron‘s Walter Peck from the original 1984 movie? That’s actually kinda clever if true.
We’ll find out next summer on July 15, 2016.