Bill Murray Explains Why ‘Ghostbusters 2’ Was ‘Unsatisfactory’

In the 1980s, Hollywood cinema flourished, with directors such as James Cameron, John Carpenter, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg creating box office giants backed by significant merchandising. Along with films like Terminator, Robocop, star Wars And ET extraterrestrial, Ivan Reitman Ghostbusters was another merchandising goldmine that captured the imagination of fans and critics alike.

Telling the story of a group of middle-aged men who start a ghost removal service in New York City, the film was an illustration of the wacky blockbusters that flourished in the 1980s. The film, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis and Ernie Hudson, became an era classic, earning nearly $300 million on a $25-30 million budget.

Due to the success of the 1984 film, a sequel was released in 1989 with the same lead actors, however, unlike the first film which was enjoyed by all, the second film was largely panned by critics and fans alike. The film still made a decent financial return, grossing $215 million worldwide, but it lacked the charm of the original and is often forgotten in 1980s film history.

Speaking of the film’s legacy in a 2008 interview, Murray reflected, “When we were filming the sequel, it didn’t satisfy me because the first thing for me was the product. It was the real thing. Sequel, it was a few years later [and] the idea was thrown. They got us all in a room and we all just laughed for a couple of hours and came up with some ideas.”

Continuing the story of the original film, the sequel sees the group resurrect their ghost hunting business after discovering a huge river of ectoplasm, but it lacks the original film’s focus and menace. “So we got this idea. But when I got to the set, it wasn’t like that. It was a completely different movie,” Murray added, “it had some great scenes, but it wasn’t the same movie anymore. So there was never any interest in a third Ghostbusters because the second disappointed me deep down.”

Murray wasn’t the only one disappointed with the film: director Ivan Reitman even admitted that the crew had made a mistake. “Everything didn’t work out. We just made a little mistake in terms of the story in this film,” he said, and the third film in this series was subsequently filmed by the stars both in front of and behind the camera.

After all, Reitman helped direct the third film in history. Ghostbusters franchise, 2021 Ghostbusters: Afterlife, where Murray, Aykroyd, Weaver and Hudson will return. Directed by Ivan’s son Jason Reitman, the contemporary film starred Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace. Ghostbusters a franchise with recognizable symbols such as the Ecto-1 car and Proton backpacks.

Take a look at the trailer for the second film in the franchise. ghostbusters 2, below.