Rick Moranis was approached to reprise the role of Louis Tully for Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Bill Murray really pushed the game's development team to get Rick Moranis. Murray even directly called up Moranis.
Bill Murray, in theory, was onboard to play the romantic lead. Though Aykroyd had originally started writing Ghostbusters as another tag-team vehicle for him and Belushi, he'd had Murray in mind for Dr. Peter Venkman after his friend had died of a drug overdose in 1982.
I lived in Europe for six months or so, and I was supposed to do a movie when I came back, and when I came back, and I saw the script that I was supposed to do, I didn't want to do it." Murray also cited the seasons of the movie business and how his disappearance screwed up his schedule.
Who was John Candy supposed to play in Ghostbusters?
He was approached to play the character of accountant Louis Tully in Ghostbusters (1984), starring Aykroyd and directed by Reitman, but ultimately did not get the role because of his conflicting ideas of how to play the character; the part went instead to SCTV colleague Rick Moranis, whose ideas were better received.
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.
The question remains though, why would John Candy turn down the chance of starring in such an obvious classic-in-waiting? Well, by the sounds of it Ivan Reitman and John Candy had creative differences over how the role would be played, with Candy having a wildly different take than Reitman.
Star Murray and director Ramis had such intense creative disagreements that one day Ramis grabbed Murray by the shirt collar and threw him against a wall. After that, Murray didn't speak to Ramis for over 20 years.
Plans for a third Ghostbusters film began during filming of the second one, but Harold Ramis was unsure about it because of the main cast's ages and how difficult it was to get them all together. In addition to that, Bill Murray wasn't interested in coming back for another film.
He joined the Canadian TV series, SCTV (1976), winning an Emmy for writing and portraying the character, Bob McKenzie, which became the basis for the film, The character he played in Ghostbusters (1984) was based on a similar character he played on SCTV (1976).
Since then, Aykroyd has been honest and up-front about his experiences with living with the autism spectrum. The talented actor and writer has spoken to great detail about how his experiences on the autism spectrum contributed to his character in the movie "Ghostbusters".
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.
The Chinese have a strong belief in honoring traditions and deceased ancestors, that's why anything that portrays ghosts as an evil force is banned there (doesn't have to be horror; the new Ghostbusters was banned there for this reason).
“The studio wasn't [inclusive], and the studio continued not to be,” said Hudson. “So it made it very, very difficult because I was a part of it, but then I very selectively was pushed aside.” “When the posters came out, I'm not on the poster,” recalled Hudson. “It took a long time.
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.
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 ...
"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.”
The film was called Ghostbusters. Aykroyd met with director Ivan Reitman at Art's Deli in Studio City, in Los Angeles, and originally pitched the film as a two-hander for himself and Belushi. After that meeting they recruited Ramis, who came on as co-writer as well, and their co-star Bill Murray.
"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.
