Bill Murray Says He Got Tricked into Making Critically Reviled Ghostbusters II ‘Under False Pretenses’
Like many critics, Bill Murray isn’t a particularly big fan of Ghostbusters II.
During a virtual panel at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he received the Maltin Modern Master Award, Murray got candid about his time working on the iconic franchise.
“I was very, very reluctant to do it,” Murray said about making a sequel to his 1984 classic. “I was in absolutely no hurry. I probably thought that the only reason anyone would want another one was just to make money. And I was probably the most reluctant.”
Murray went on to say he was “outfoxed” after being pitched an idea for the sequel that didn’t end up on screen.
“They got us all together and they pitched a story idea that was really great. I thought, ‘Holy cow, we could make that work,’” he said. “It ended up not being the story they wrote. They got us in the sequel under false pretenses.”
Murray added that he didn’t learn about the script changes until cameras started rolling on the sequel. “I showed up on set and went, ‘What the hell is this? What is this thing?’ But we were already shooting it, so we had to figure out how to make it work,” he said.
The comedy legend acknowledged that he ended up having a “great” time working on the sequel and it was a joy to reunite with his co-stars, but admitted, “I probably like the first one better than the second one, just because the first cut is the deepest.”
Murray also made a cameo appearance in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot starring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and similarly enjoyed the experience.
“Those girls are so funny. You talk about improvising, and they did nothing but fire grenades, all day long. I sat in amazement, watching them,” he said.
The actor said he didn’t have as much fun shooting Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the upcoming sequel directed by Jason Reitman, the son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, but he also believes it will be the best entry in the series since the original.
“It really brings [the franchise] back to life,” said Murray. “It really has the feel of the first one, more than the second one or the girls’ one. It has a different feel than two out of four. It was hard. It was really hard. That’s why I think it’s gonna be good.”
Shooting Ghostbusters: Afterlife, according to Murray, was a “physically painful” experience due to the “extremely uncomfortable” and “heavy” battery packs they had to wear.
He continued, “The special effects in this one are a lot of wind and dirt in your face, and there was a lot of going down and getting back up. I was like, ‘What is this? What am I doing?’”
However, Murray acknowledged that when making a movie “has a very high misery quotient, something comes of that and some quality is produced that, if you can capture it and project it, comes on the screen and affects you.”
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which hits theaters in November, was delayed more than a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but Murray noted, “I’m glad they did. It will be worth seeing.”
