Brand of the Day: Ghostbusters
Confirmation of Murray's long-hoped-for involvement in the film is being viewed as a seal of approval on the new film.
Bill Murray has been confirmed to appear in the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot according to reports in Hollywood.
The new film is scheduled for release on July 15 next year and will star Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the new paranormal investigators with Thor star Chris Hemsworth as the team’s secretary.
Film website Birth.Movies.Death claims Murray will play a character called Martin Heiss, described as a professional supernatural debunker who stands in opposition to the new team.
Murray, who played Dr Peter Venkman in the two films, previously voice his opposition to a new film however the 64 year-old appeared to change his mind last year following the appointment of Bridesmaids director Paul Feig to the film.
Dan Aykroyd, who played Ray Stantz in the original two films, is also expected to make a return.
Here’s more on the Ghostbuster franchise.
While the original film was still playing in theatres director Ivan Reitman created a trailer using the commercial the Ghostbusters' use in the film, inserting a 1-800 number, allowing people to call. Callers were greeting with a recorded message of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd saying something to the effect of "Hi. We're out catching ghosts right now." The number received 1,000 calls per hour, 24 hours a day, for six weeks.
Eddie Murphy was originally scheduled to play the role of Winston Zeddemore however a clash of filming with Beverley Hills Cop he backed out.
The music video for the song "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. was also directed by Ivan Reitman and featured a number of celebrities who did not appear in the film. They included Chevy Chase, John Candy; Melissa Gilbert and Danny DeVito.
Ghostbusters was the highest-grossing comedy of all time until it was surpassed by Home Alone in 1990.
New York fire station Hook and Ladder #8 was used for the exterior shots of the Ghostbusters firehouse. It closed in 2011 however a campaign to save it was successful and it reopened . A Ghostbusters sign hangs inside.
