Bill Murray reveals he was ‘outfoxed’ into joining Ghostbusters II sequel

Bill Murray is opening up about making the 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II, revealing that he was ‘outfoxed’ into making it.

The 70-year-old actor received the Maltin Modern Master Award from film critic Leonard Maltin at the 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday, where he admitted he was ‘reluctant’ to make the sequel.

Murray, who played the eccentric Peter Venkman, admitted he was the most reluctant out of the cast, but one particular pitch from the studio swayed him… although it was not ultimately a part of the movie.

When asked about the sequel, Murray said he was in ‘no hurry’ and admitted the only reason anyone would want to make a sequel was, ‘just to make more money.’

‘Someone outfoxed me anyway. I don’t know if (director) Ivan (Reitman) set it up, but they got us all back together in a room, and really, we hadn’t been together in a room since the movie came out and it was just really, really fun to be together,’ Murray added.

‘We were really funny together. Those are some really wonderful, really funny guys and girls. Sigourney [Weaver] and Annie Potts are some really spectacular women and funny as hell. They got us all together and they pitched a story idea that was really great. I thought, “Holy cow, we could make that work,”‘ Murray said.  

However, Murray admitted, ‘It ended up not being the story they wrote. They got us in the sequel under false pretenses.’

He admitted that co-star/co-writer Harold Ramis, ‘had a great idea,’ but by the time they got to set the idea had changed significantly, though he wouldn’t go into specifics.

‘But we were already shooting it, so we had to figure out how to make it work. That was a great bunch of people. Just to be together was great,’ he added.

Murray admitted, ‘I probably like the first one better than the second one, just because the first cut is the deepest.’

The first Ghostbusters in 1984 was the highest-grossing movie of the year, earning $229 million domestic, though the 1989 sequel earned half that with $112.5 million. 

Murray also returned in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, and he’ll be back as Peter Venkman in this year’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which hits theaters November 11 after being delayed more than a year due to COVID-19.

He added that the reboot stars Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones are, ‘some of my favorite funny people. Those girls are so funny.’ 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife was directed by Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II director Ivan Reitman’s son Jason Reitman, who told Murray he had this idea for years.

‘I remember him 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?”‘

Murray added that he remembered the younger Reitman as a kid, and he was at his Bar Mirzvah.

‘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,’ he continued.

‘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,’ Murray said.