EW: Now, Mr. Aykroyd…
DAN: Please, call me Dan. Everyone else does.
EW: Okay. Dan. Now, we all know of the Ghostbusters franchise. It's been almost twenty years since you and Harold Ramis sat down and wrote that teriffic script to one of the funniest movies of all time.
DAN: Yeah. When we wrote it, me and Harold were eating rotisserie chicken and I guess we were pretty high off the smoke. We set to work on it then. It's amazing how chicken can inspire your creative juices.
EW: But the question lingers on in many fans, who call themselves ‘Ghost-Heads’…
DAN: Unlike William Shatner, I won't tell them to get a life. It gives me great pleasure to see how a film has taken a life of its own since 1984.
EW: But these ‘Ghost-Heads’ always come up with the same question: will there be a GHOSTBUSTERS 3?
DAN: Aw gee. Well, ahem, it is a possibility to do a third GB movie. I mean, GHOSTBUSTERS 2 didn't do too bad, despite the fact that we opened during one of the biggest blockbuster years of all time. We had Robocop, Back To The Future Part Two, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to go against. That movie would have failed had it not been for the fans wanting to see a sequel. It's my favorite one of the two.
EW: But about GB3?
DAN: Well, GB3 was something I've had in mind since 1989, when GB2 came out. But Bill Murray didn't want his name tied to another film. He felt if he did another Ghostbusters movie, his career would be down the toilet. He has finally come to his senses about the project now, and we are in the talks as to how we should go about it, whether he wants to make a cameo or be in it as a minor player. I've sat with Harold about it, and I think the approach that would most work would be either the Extreme Ghostbusters approach or something else that would keep the series going for a long time.
EW: How so?
DAN: Well, the approach I was thinking would be not to have the EGB way of doing GB3. Most people hated that series and it would turn off a lot of fans if it were made into a teen movie. God I hated Not Another Teen Movie. But what I was thinking was that the Ghostbusters from the original movies train a new squad of GB's for a match-up against an evil enitity, more powerful than Gozer and Vigo. Casting is still a question as to who is going to be in it.
EW: Will Slimer be in the movie?
DAN: Maybe. I haven't really gotten in touch with ‘Onionhead’, as we called him in the first two movies, yet. I have talked with his agents and lawyers as to how big his role in GB3 would be, but I haven't heard anything new yet from them. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed.
EW: How about Sigourney Weaver? Will she be in this new film?
DAN: Sigourney Weaver is a brilliant actress. I loved her in the Alien series. But like Slimer, she is also a question mark. I have heard that she will do another Alien, but she doubts whether she will do GB3. I dunno, maybe we can do something with her, maybe not.
EW: As to the prospect of production…
DAN: Harold Ramis is still interested in directing the movie. You know, taking the helms from Ivan Reitman.
EW: But is Reitman still involved?
DAN: As a producer he is. He is disinteresed in directing another Ghostbusters film.
EW: Will you have another Ecto in the new movie?
DAN: That is not a possibility. We will have the original Ecto. I recently went and talked to Ecto-1, and he was wanting to be in the new movie, since he was sick in GB2 and had to be replaced by his sister Ecto-1A. You should have seen the look on his face when I asked him if he was wanting to be in the movie when I saw him at the Sony lot.
EW: When is the movie slated for release?
DAN: We are still in the grappling stages with Sony as to a release date, but what I have pitched is probably 2004. The 20th anniversary of the original.
EW: How much?
DAN: Well, it's only fair we should make GB3 as great as possible. So I have thought, maybe $100,000,000. Enough to get it through.
EW: Intended to make it a summer blockbluster, eh?
DAN: Not really. I just want to update everything about the series. I don't want to compete with any of the other films that are out there. All I want to do is give the fans a Ghostbusters movie to be proud of.
EW: One last question Dan: If GB3 happens to be a hit, will there be more? Like, will you make episodes like George Lucas is with Star Wars by releasing episodes?
DAN: Maybe. Only the future will tell. Now if you will excuse me (straps on proton pack), I need to catch that ghost that is hovering behind you.