Bill Murray Says ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Brings the Franchise “Back to Life”, and “Has the Feel of the First One”

Audiences were originally supposed to see Ghostbusters: Afterlife in theaters last summer, but the coronavirus pandemic had different plans. The film is now finally slated for release this fall, and in a new interview, cast member (and original Ghostbusters star) Bill Murray had some nice things to say about the upcoming sequel. Namely, that it “really brings [the franchise] back to life,” and that it “has the feel of the first one” – two sentiments fans of the original movie will likely be very glad to hear.

Appearing virtually at the 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival to accept the Maltin Modern Master Award a few days ago (via Collider), Murray spoke fondly about his experience working on the 2016 Ghostbusters and then being lured back in once again by the “wonderful idea” that co-writer/director Jason Reitman had for Ghostbusters: Afterlife:

“I remember [Jason] calling me and saying, ‘I’ve got an idea for another Ghostbusters. I’ve had this idea for years,'” Murray recalled. “I thought, ‘What the heck could that possibly be?’ I remember him when he was a kid. I remember his Bar Mitzvah. 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. 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.”

“I think he’s really got something,” Murray continued, referencing Afterlife. “It was hard. It was really hard. That’s why I think it’s gonna be good. We were just in it for a little while, but it was physically painful. Wearing those packs is extremely uncomfortable. We had batteries the size of batteries. They now have batteries the size of earrings. It’s still a really heavy thing to wear, all the time. The special effects in this one are a lot of wind and dirt in your face, and there was a lot of going down and getting back up. I was like, ‘What is this? What am I doing? These are like Bulgarian deadlifts, or a Russian kettlebell, getting up and down with this thing on my back.’ It was very uncomfortable. Usually, when something has a very high misery quotient, something comes of that and some quality is produced that, if you can capture it and project it, comes on the screen and affects you. I think it comes out sometime in the fall. They’ve delayed it for a year or a year and a half, but I’m glad they did. It will be worth seeing.”

Murray’s appearance in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call was not what I would call an exceptionally physical performance, but it certainly sounds like the beloved actor is going to be back in action in a more significant way in Afterlife. If nothing else, fans will likely be pumped at the idea of seeing him don a proton pack again on the big screen for the first time since 1989 – and considering the surviving original cast is supposed to be returning, we expect they’ll all be back in the same roles they played in the first two films instead of appearing as alternate characters as some of them did in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.

Get hyped for the return of Dr. Peter Venkman, because Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently slated to hit theaters on November 11, 2021.

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