Bill Murray Confirmed to Return for ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’

In news that is exciting fans of all ages, Bill Murray‘s return to the Ghostbusters universe has officially been confirmed by Vanity Fair after the outlet was invited to an exclusive on-set visit this past September to the Ghostbusters: Afterlife shoot in Calgary. In the interview, Murray shares tidbits about the beloved fandom, while also dishing some new details about the highly anticipated sequel to the ’80s classic.

As evidenced in its first major trailer released last fall, Murray tells the magazine that the film’s narrative will deal with the significant absence of Egon Spengler as actor, Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the original movie with Dan Aykroyd, died in 2014.

“Well, we are a man down. That’s the deal,” Murray told the magazine, looking down while pursing his lips. “And that’s the story that we’re telling, that’s the story they’ve written.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife focuses on a family led by single mom Callie (Carrie Coon) and her two children, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), who move into a beaten-down farmhouse in Oklahoma that Callie inherited, complemented with nostalgic Easter eggs and throwbacks to the 1984 film. As they soon learn, something is stirring beneath them. Actor, Paul Rudd also stars.

Murray’s involvement with Afterlife has been a longstanding question for fans as well as filmmakers as he is notoriously enigmatic and rarely does sequels. But Murray, who has known director Jason Reitman since he was a kid, agreed to the Ghostbusters revival last spring.

“The script is good. It’s got lots of emotion in it. It’s got lots of family in it, with through lines that are really interesting,” Murray said in the interview. “It’s gonna work.”

After news broke of Afterlife‘s development a few years ago, fans have been wondering if the original stars, Murray, Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson — with the exception of Ramis — would be reprising their respective roles as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore. Vanity Fair, while not sharing too many spoilers, can also share that Annie Potts, the trusty receptionist Janine and Sigourney Weaver, as the malevolent magnet, Dana Barrett, were also spotted during shoots at various times and filmed their parts over the span of a week.

According to Vanity Fair, each star has a “meaningful role in the movie, but they won’t be the central heroes this time.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife opens in theatres July 8, 2020.

Photo credit: Universal Pictures / SONY