Shortly before his death from a drug overdose in 1982, the actor had been cast as Dr Venkman in an upcoming supernatural comedy called Ghostbusters. Sadly, he never got to take on the role, and it went to the brilliant Bill Murray instead.
In 1981, Aykroyd read an article on quantum physics and parapsychology in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, which gave him the idea of trapping ghosts.
Was Eddie Murphy originally supposed to be in Ghostbusters?
The 59-year-old actor recently sat down for an interview with. The comedian then recalled an instance when he was offered a part in the 1984 film by cast member. Murphy recalled, 'I was supposed to be in Ghostbusters. We were doing Trading Places and Dan Aykroyd was like, "This movie Ghostbusters...."'
In some instances, the original trio of Ghostbusters was said to always going to have been Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and Bill Murray. Murray started filming on October 27, 1983 after taking a Concorde to New York and driving to 62nd Street and Madison for an 11 am start.
Moranis turned down a cameo appearance in Paul Feig's Ghostbusters, sharing that it didn't make sense to him to “do just one day of shooting” on something he did 30 years ago.
How come Rick Moranis wasn t in Ghostbusters Afterlife?
Moranis passed on lending his voice and likeness to the 2009 release of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and also decided not to cameo in Paul Feig's 2016 reboot Ghostbusters, saying that it didn't make sense to him to "do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago.” (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Tom Hanks and Robin Williams were considered for the role of Dr. Peter Venkman. Almost none of the scenes were filmed as scripted, most had at least one ad-lib.
There were reports that it got so bad during filming that Ramis slammed Murray up against a wall at one point. “They were like two brothers who weren't getting along,” Rubin told The New Yorker.
John Candy supposedly had some trouble understanding the character and Reitman did not agree with his ideas on how to portray him, specifically with a German accent and multiple German Doberman-Pinschers. John declined the role and it would be offered to his SCTV colleague Rick Moranis.
So, here's the deal: Bill Murray never actually did "Ghostbusters 3." There were talks about a third installment for years, but it just never came together. Murray was always hesitant about doing another sequel, and he wanted the script to be just right before committing.
Dan Aykroyd originally wrote the script with John Belushi in mind to play the role of Venkman but Belushi died of a drug overdose on March 5 1982, leading Murray to get the role.
The TV movie was a spin-off from Moranis' popular comedy franchise, which began in 1989 with Honey I Shrunk The Kids. After reprising his role for the final time, Moranis unofficially retired from acting and decided to spend more time with his family in New York (via Looper).
The role was offered to Michael Keaton, Chevy Chase, and Steve Guttenberg but they all turned it down, with Chase later sharing that the script he read wasn't the one used in the film, and was dark and scary.
"They had a few arguments on set, including one in which my dad uncharacteristically lost his temper, grabbed Bill by the collar, and shoved him up against a wall,” she reveals. “Eventually, Bill just completely shut my dad out… for the next twenty years.”
Dan Aykroyd, who co-wrote and co-starred in "Ghostbusters" with Ramis, was at North Shore Congregation Israel with wife Donna Dixon, as were Chevy Chase, star of Ramis' "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation," with his wife, Jayni; "SCTV" co-stars Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas; Second City co-owner/CEO Andrew ...
Many people have this odd belief that the two were instant friends from childhood. Close but no cigar. Harold Ramis' connection to Bill Murray is through Murray's older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray. Bill was at their first meeting just Brian's younger brother (Bill is 6 years younger than Harold).
Ghostbusters has been such a huge part of our popular-culture for the last 30 years that it's easy to overlook what it represented at the time. In June 1984, when the film opened in theaters, Bill Murray was only 33 years old. Dan Aykroyd was just 31 and director Ivan Reitman was 37.
In 1989, Trump appeared in the music video for Bobby Brown's single "On Our Own", which was featured in the movie Ghostbusters II. In 1991, Trump originally made an appearance in the music video for Precious Metal's cover of Janet Robin's song, "Mr. Big Stuff".
Each of the original Ghostbusters had a specific skillset, although at least three of them were of the highest of intelligence. Out of those three, it was Egon Spengler who was the smartest.
On April 25, 2023, Ernie Hudson indicated that Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Annie Potts would reprise their roles from previous Ghostbusters movies in the film; Aykroyd confirmed he would return for the sequel in June 2023.
"No, Ghostbusters II, definitely canon," Reitman said. "There are references to Ghostbusters II in Afterlife. We meet Ray working at Ray's Occult. The toaster from Ghostbusters II is in the kitchen in the farmhouse.
