Right after he stops shilling for vodka that comes in a crystal skull, a lovely image which certainly doesn't remind me of any failed attempts to restart a franchise. Dan Aykroyd was speaking with Vanity Fair when they asked him about Bill Murray's recent remarks about the potential film. (In short: it's not happening, the writers they got suck, I'm not doing it.)
While Murray's words may have soothed the fans of the original Ghostbusters films who were worried about future desecration, Aykroyd's will probably be less welcome; as it turns out, he's helping to write the script:
I think [Bill] was concerned that the writing on Ghostbusters 3 by these guys would not be up to standard, but I can tell you firsthand, I’m working on the script now and those two—Stupnitsky and Eisenberg, [writer-producers of The Office]—wrote Bill the comic role of a lifetime, and the new Ghostbusters and the old are all well represented in it…we have a strong first draft that Harold [Ramis] and I will take back, and I’m very excited about working on it.
One of the big questions, of course, is how the movie will reconcile the fact that the Ghostbusters themselves are in their sixties, which is probably not prime ghost-busting age. Please don't say "Shia LeBeouf," Dan:
…it has to evolve. Now [in Ghostbusters 3] my character’s eyesight is shot, I got a bad knee, a bad hip—I can’t drive that caddy anymore or lift that Psychotron Accelerator anymore, it’s too heavy. We need young legs, new minds—new Ghostbusters; so I’m in essence passing the torch to the new regime.
While I was never exactly keen on writers from The Office tackling the third film, I'm heartened that Aykroyd is involved with the screenplay. And who knows: maybe they'll actually pick hilarious, engaging newbies to pick up the reins? Right, guys?
…Right?