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COLUMN: Why Bill Murray Has Every Right To Bitch About Ghostbusters III
9/6/10
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... Bill Murray was at the peak of his comedy career. From SNL skits like the Star Wars song, to the comedic genius of films like Caddyshack, Stripes, & Meatballs, not only was Murray continuing to rise, but soon enough, he would launch the careers of him and his friends around him to new heights.
After working together with Harold Ramis on Stripes (Ramis also wrote the scripts for Caddyshack & Meatballs) and teaming with Dan Akroyd on SNL, the stars aligned for the sci-fi-mega-concept-horror-comedy Ghostbusters. Taken from one of Dan Akroyd's extravagant original ideas and cut down down from a futuristic bonanza with projected $300 million budget (1984 value, pre-inflation) to a modern day tale that could be told with some good ol' special effects, the legend took shape.
When released on the masses, it took in $300 million on a budget of $30 million, and the studio wanted a franchise, and this seems to be where the problems start.
Sure, the cartoon show lasted a half decade to wind the kids in. Sure, the sequel made over $200 million and held the Opening Weekend Record... 'til Batman came out a week later. Sony keeps licensing the Ghostbusters for action figures, video games, cartoons, Hot Wheels cars, comic books, coin banks... anything they can shake a stick at. Even without all the original stars on board, specifically Murray since he's always the vocal holdout, the studio can keep making money from this cash cow. They might feel at they end of the day that, "Hey! We don't need those old bastards. What do they bring to the table, anyways?"
On that note, Bill Murray has every right to be what we might view as a major prick. And honestly: Isn't that exactly the kind of thing that Peter Venkman *would* do???
A lot of people say that the current generation coming up is "out of control" with no respect for authority and a rebelious spirit. Sounds a lot like the influence of one Dr. Venkman on the world, especially seeing this post-Ghostbusters generation unleashed on the world. But honestly, that is the stuff that made Ghostbusters so great. Yeah, as a kid the #1 thing in the movie was the red-and-blue flashing proton streams, but go back and watch it now a days. The special effects still hold up well in most instances, but it's the natural vibe and witty comedy that really make the movie hold up and accessible to so many people.
In that regard, Sony wouldn't have the classic gem that they do without Bill Murray's involvement. There's no denying that he has some of the greatest lines in the movie, that's for sure. But what's been relayed by the cast and crew in the years since is most of the time, the lines weren't scripted with the comedic timing and impact that Murray brought to them. His involvement gave it that extra little polish that is still being appreciated today.
And while the 2nd one isn't regarded as the cinematic classic that the first is, it's definitely a childhood favorite that can't be touched among a lot of people, even if time shows some cracks in the armor. But even with reports of drag-assing, Murray still seems to bring whatever he can muster up in the way of the Venkman style-and-swagger to keep the comedy flowing.
But with the studio pushing it more as marketing for the product tie-ins and less about the improv and comedic geniuses involved, it almost sealed the deal on what has been a 2 decade plus "Will he or won't he?" battle. But in a round about sort of way, he seems to be doing it for quality control.
Don't belive me? Look at it like this: Bill has started to say that Ghostbusters II ended up being a "whole lot of slime and not much of [us]", which is not only a fair assessment from his standpoint, but also seems to be an indicator of what he's looking for before he'll come onboard for a GB3. All he seems to want is to that team chemistry and interaction be the focal point. That's what built the house that is Ghostbusters.
Maybe he just wants to be able to look himself in the mirror and know that he didn't take a 3rd trip back to NYC just for a paycheck or to make someone else a paycheck, but rather to revisit previously unexplored ideas and interactions.
We don't need another Ghostbusters II where it's all about the flash to catch the eye of the kids. This is the reason why the last time a Ghostbusters III script was written by Akroyd, it never came to be: there was complaints that even on the page, the new team members had zero personality.
Even if the originals are back just to direct the operations of the new class of Ghostbusters and train 'em Scrubs-style, that gives plenty of opportunity for the commrodary and zip-bang dialogue of the original to show that this ghost still has some life left in it. And really, at the end of the day, does that sound like such a bad idea??
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