Bill Murray and his brother Brian Doyle-Murray are embarking on a road trip to 'crash' Minor League ballparks in America. The promo video shows an animated Bill Murray driving through Casper. Is this something we can expect?
Over the weekend I had dinner with some friends (yeah, I don’t live in the internet; crazy, right?) and the topic of the Toni Erdmann remake came up, which led to brainstorming which writers and directors might be perfect for taking on a three-hour German father-daughter relationship comedy (Sarah Polley) — and which ones will likely wind up with the job (someone like Larry Charles or Paul Feig, I bet). And while Jack Nicholson emerging from retirement is super exciting, one friend suggested that, since the film doesn’t even have a script or director yet, Nicholson will back out at the last minute and the role will go to Bill Murray. As it turns out, what really happened was sort of the reverse.
By the late 1990s, Bill Murray was one of the biggest comedy stars in the world, commanding a salary per picture of about $9 million. But did you know when Murray agreed to star in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, he made just $9,000, and when the studio refused to give Anderson the money he needed for a crucial helicopter shot, Bill Murray wrote a check to cover the costs. That’s just one of the facts featured in the last episode of You Think You Know Movies!
We know, we know. A few weeks out from Halloween, and already Christmas specials are making their presence known. Still, we’re not ones to question Bill Murray, especially if the first promo for his star-studded, Sofia Coppola-directed Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas lives up to its promise.
There’s one reason and one reason only why we’re getting a Ghostbusters remake in 2016 instead of an actual Ghostbusters 3 five years ago. That reason is named Bill Murray and he’s been the not-so-secret sequel roadblock for as long as we can remember. But then he accepted a small role in the new reboot, because he’s Bill Murray and Bill Murray does whatever he wants. Sometimes that means randomly showing up at your birthday party. Sometimes that means popping up in a film franchise that he seemingly had zero desire to revisit. Now, Murray explains his reasons for joining a new Ghostbusters movie he was so vocally against.
Granted, it’s May, but when have you ever known Bill Murray to pop up when expected? The revered and eccentric comedian has finally locked down his long-discussed Christmas special with Sofia Coppola sending holiday cheer to Netflix this December with A Very Murray Christmas.
So Sony and director Paul Feig have found their new Ghostbusters: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon. This whole idea of an all-female ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot came together after the passing of original series star and co-writer Harold Ramis, when director Ivan Reitman relinquished the franchise’s director’s chair and everyone involved finally gave up on trying to convince stubborn (and probably very wise) Bill Murray to make a second sequel to the original film.
Bill Murray has been well-established throughout pop culture as a legendary eccentric, whose next feats might well include emerging from your bowl of soup, or taking a flamethrower to your next karaoke jam, so what's next? Why, a TV yuletide special with 'Lost in Translation' director Sofia Coppola, featuring the erstwhile 'St. Vincent' crooning Christmas carols, of course!
At this point, any new 'Ghostbusters' movie has been fancasted within an inch of its life. Any actor working today under the age of 40? They've been considered for the 'Ghostbusters' movie. Shoot, there's a chance you were considered to star in the 'Ghostbusters' movie. So, there's no point in going over yet another list of who should star in 'Ghostbusters 3' or whatever it is they're calling it these days. Unless, of course, the person who made that list is Bill Murray. In that case, *in rapt*.
With the passing of Harold Ramis, it seemed another monkey wrench had been thrown into the plans of the long rumored 'Ghostbusters 3,' which co-writer and star Dan Aykroyd has been working on for over twenty years. Now it's been revealed that commerce trumps tragedy as Sony and director Ivan Reitman are definitely moving forward with the project.