The internet’s a funny place. Only on the internet would you find people abuzz about the idea of Rick Moranis returning for Ghostbusters III, and I have to admit that fact is part of what makes me love the internet.
But I hope the internet doesn’t get too excited about this. It all began in an Entertainment Weekly interview with Harold Ramis, where he was asked about Ghostbusters III. This is the part that has the buzz buzzing:
According to Ramis, who cowrote and starred in the first two Ghostbusters,
a third journey into the comedic supernatural is in the cards. And yes,
the original cast will return: Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis,
and even the elusive Bill Murray. “Everybody said
they’d do it,” says Ramis, who doesn’t intend to direct Ghostbusters III.
Wait a second. While the article lists Moranis, it doesn’t have Ramis saying Moranis. When he says ‘everybody,’ who does he mean? I would have to assume the actual Ghostbusters, and not necessarily every secondary character.
The reason why this is even an issue is that Moranis quietly retired from the movies almost a decade ago. He’s been happily living his life since then, doing whatever it is that he does (which apparently includes writing and singing a comedic country album, which was nominated for a Grammy). Could he be lured out of retirement for a third film? Sure, but why do we really need him? One of the problems with Ghostbusters II is that it tries to ram in everyone from the first movie, whether they belonged in the story or not. I love Louis, but it would be okay to not see him in the latest film.
Which is all moot, as again, the EW article doesn’t actually quote Ramis on getting Moranis back. It’s likely that the writer didn’t even realize Moranis had retired and simply listed people from the original films; anyone who had done the slightest research would know that Bill Murray returned for the upcoming video game, so having him back in a movie doesn’t seem as surprising as Missy Schwartz makes it to be.