Maybe don’t call Dan Aykroyd?
The writer-star of the 1984 Ghostbusters said it was unlikely he and Bill Murray would return to their iconic roles in the sci-fi comedy franchise.
“I don’t see that coming,” Aykroyd told the New York Post while promoting his History Channel series The UnBelievable With Dan Aykroyd.
The OG Saturday Night Live cast member and Oscar nominee continued, “I don’t see where they would need us to carry it on. They’ve got a whole new cast, and they’ve got whole new ideas.”
Aykroyd, Murray and the late Harold Ramis starred as Manhattan-based paranormal investigators in the 1984 lighthearted action-horror movie, from a script by Aykroyd and Ramis, with Ivan Reitman directing. Also starring Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, the pic became a critical and commercial success, spawning several sequels and reboots, as well as merchandise and a coveted spot in the cultural zeitgeist.
The latest installment in the sprawling series of films is this year’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, taking place in Oklahoma (along with some action sequences in hometown New York City) and starring Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and Carrie Coon — reprising the characters they originated in 2021’s Afterlife. Aykroyd and Murray both appear in the film.
“I think probably they’re going to move on to advancing it beyond the originals, which they should,” Aykroyd concluded about the franchise’s direction.
While Frozen Empire wasn’t a strong critical nor commercial hit, director Gil Kenan expressed plans for additional films alongside writer-producer Jason Reitman, though nothing concrete has been announced.
Earlier this year, Aykroyd defended the all-female 2016 reboot of the films, starring Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig: “I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to license that movie and have a hand and have a part in it, and I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made.”
