Bill Murray says that Ghostbusters: Afterlife brings the franchise back to life, comparing its quality to the original Ghostbusters from 1984. Murray has appeared in all of the movies in the franchise, playing Dr. Peter Venkman in the original and its 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II. He also had a cameo in the female-led 2016 Ghostbusters reboot. Ghostbusters: Afterlife, initially set for release in 2020 but now scheduled to drop on November 11 this year, ignores the reboot, and features the original cast returning in their original roles (minus the late Harold Ramis and the largely retired Rick Moranis).
Joining them are a host of new cast members, including Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, and McKenna Grace. Jason Reitman, the son of the original movie’s director Ivan, came up with the story and co-wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife, directing it too. The story takes place 30 years after the original movies, following a family who moves to a family property in a small town and discovers their connection to the original Ghostbusters team. Ghostbusters: Afterlife made Ivan cry when he saw it the first time, and it sounds as though Murray, who famously hated the sequel, likes it too.
Bill Murray recently received the Maltin Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and during the live virtual presentation on Friday he spoke about Ghostbusters: Afterlife (via Collider). Murray says that he feels Ghostbusters: Afterlife brings the franchise back to life, comparing it favorably to the 1984 original while at the same time dismissing the quality of the 1989 sequel and the 2016 reboot. Murray admits he was skeptical that the younger Reitman could pull off a good sequel but says the idea was “really wonderful.” Murray also speaks of the difficulty of the shoot, having to wear the large battery packs in his 70s, but ends by saying he’s glad the movie was delayed by the pandemic, saying it’ll be “worth the wait.” You can read his full comments below:
I remember him [Jason Reitman] calling me and saying, “I’ve got an idea for another Ghostbusters. I’ve had this idea for years.” I thought, “What the heck could that possibly be?” I remember him when he was a kid. I remember his Bar Mitzvah. I was like, “What the heck? What does this kid know?” But he had a really, really wonderful idea that he wrote with another wonderful guy that I got to work with, Gil Kenan, who made City of Ember. The two of them wrote a Ghostbusters movie that really brings it back to life. 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. I think he’s really got something. It was hard. It was really hard. That’s why I think it’s gonna be good. We were just in it for a little while, but it was physically painful. Wearing those packs is extremely uncomfortable. We had batteries the size of batteries. They now have batteries the size of earrings. It’s still a really heavy thing to wear, all the time. 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? These are like Bulgarian deadlifts, or a Russian kettlebell, getting up and down with this thing on my back.” It was very uncomfortable. Usually, when something 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. I think it comes out sometime in the fall. They’ve delayed it for a year or a year and a half, but I’m glad they did. It will be worth seeing.
Murray is enthused by the movie, and that can only be a good sign. The veteran star is not known for mincing his words when it comes to the quality of the movies he’s worked on, perhaps best witnessed in his animosity towards Ghostbusters II as well as the Garfield movies he voiced. His enthusiasm, then, should be taken as a positive, as he’d likely not say anything if he didn’t honestly think Ghostbusters: Afterlife was good.
Audiences who have been paying attention won’t be surprised, as the trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife certainly made it look like it’s trying to capture the original’s spirit and intention, neatly updated for the 21st century. Hopefully, Murray’s feelings about the movie are proven correct, and it lives up to the promise of its promo, as after 30 years, audiences are begging for a decent Ghostbusters sequel that brings the franchise back to life properly.
Key Release Dates
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Release Date:2021-11-19
