Ghostbusters 3: Bill Murray Has Four Actresses In Mind To Take Over
Who would he call?
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The other day, former Ghostbuster Bill Murray gave his sarcasm-tinged blessing to the idea of a new Ghostbusters movie with an all female cast. Some people thought he was being dismissive and glib, and while his response to the question about what he thinks of director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) rebooting the franchise in such a way is definitely full of his trademark biting humor, he’s still on board, saying, “It’s a grand idea, I don’t know who they’re talking about, but it’s a good idea.” And that’s not all, he’s even given some thought to who he thinks should fill those iconic beige jumpsuits, pilot Ecto-1 around the streets of New York, and hunt wayward spirits.
At the Toronto International Film Festival to promote his latest film, St. Vincent, the subject of Ghostbusters 3, or New Ghostbusters or whatever the hell you want to call this thing, came up a couple of times, and when talking to the Toronto Star, Murray revealed a quartet of women he’d like to see take over the reins.
Melissa McCarthy
McCarthy co-stars with Murray in St. Vincent, and by all reports this is a pretty straight role for the actress, most known for over-the-top comedic turns like Tammy and Identity Thief. He says she would be “a spectacular Ghostbuster,” and casting her would make a certain amount of sense because she has worked with Feig on his last two movies: Bridesmaids and The Heat.
Kristen Wiig
Another Bridesmaids alum is up next. Murray says, “And Kristen Wiig is so funny—God, she’s funny!” Wiig has won me over in recent years (I’m decidedly not a fan of her work on Saturday Night Live), and she’s fantastic in a largely dramatic role in The Skeleton Twins, which opens this Friday, and she continues to show an ever broadening range, in addition to being funny as hell.
Emma Stone
Murray is only in Zombieland for a short time (one of the best cameos of all time), but it was apparently more than enough for Emma Stone to leave an impression on him, at least enough for him to theoretically cast her in this movie. She is an example of an actor who started out looking like she was going to be one of the true new dramatic talents of her generation, but has since shown she has equal prowess in comedy with movies like Easy A. Earlier reports also linked her, and Jonah Hill, to a different incarnation of Ghostbusters 3, so maybe it’s her dream to strap on a proton pack. (Though she has also said she wasn’t interested in that earlier version.)
Linda Cardellini
And rounding out this quartet is a bit of a dark horse. Murray says, “I like this girl Linda Cardellini a lot.” Though she has a long list of credits to her name, most of us know Cardellini as one of the main characters in the short-lived Freaks and Geeks (another in a long line of shows gone too soon). Feig created that cult favorite, so there’s already a connection there, and I, for one, would totally love to see her back in a prime role (probably her most notable recent role was an eight-episode swing on AMC’s Mad Men, which I’ve still never watched).
So there you have it, four suggestions from Murray about who he’d like to see star in Ghostbusters 3. Not only is it a solid list (as much as we still think any additional Ghostbusters movie is a bad idea), many of the names have already been bandied about, primarily because of preexisting relationships with Feig.
What do you think of his choices? If we have to see another Ghostbusters movie happen, would you rather see it in this form, or would you prefer they trot out the rotting corpses Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson instead? Let us know in the comments.
