Why Bill Murray Shouldn’t Make ‘Ghostbusters 3′

Yes, seeing “Ghostbusters 3″ would be pretty awesome. But I think Bill Murray may be right in resisting it.

After serially dodging the “Ghostbusters 3” issue, Bill Murray has finally admitted that he’s the thing holding up the long-awaited third installment of Ivan Reitman’s classic masterpiece.

Appearing on Howard Stern, Murray said, “I’m a problem. There’s a script somewhere, but I haven’t read it yet.” He acknowledged that he’s being an insufferable grouch and letting down many people—not just Reitman—by delaying the project. “Ivan wants to make it and I owe him,” he said. “He’s puzzled that I haven’t gotten to this one. I’ll get to it, I feel bad. I got a message and I think people – I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings – it’s not the foremost thing in my mind, so I don’t think about it.”

I understand that Murray’s flippant dismissiveness seems like an insult—after all, Reitman’s direction in the original “Ghostbusters,” which helped make him an icon, and and the adoring fan base that dumped yacht-loads of money on the movie have provided a wonderful life for Murray. He owes Reitman, and I guess you could argue that he owes us too.

But I think it’s a good thing that making a third installment of “Ghostbusters” isn’t on the forefront of his mind. Too many artists—bands as well as actors—reach a cryogenic freeze with their first big success. They spend the rest of their careers trying to recapture that glory moment for themselves and their fans, watering it down all the while. Yes, “Ghostbusters” was amazing—a thing to be cherished for all time. But how many times have you ever quoted “Ghostbusters 2″?

Hollywood is littered with remakes and sequels, but no matter what the marketing materials say, they’re never a “unique re-imagining.” For all the sequels and remakes out there (and they’re getting ready to make “Lethal Weapon 5,” by the way) the only sequels that might match or surpass the first in a series are probably “The Godfather Part 2″ and “Empire Strikes Back.” “Back To the Future 2″ comes close, but no cigar.

For someone who became as iconic as Murray, you have to hand it to him for being more interested in creating new firsts than simply going back to the well to make seconds and thirds over and over again. As Murray says, “I only made one sequel and it was Ghostbusters 2 and it didn’t end up the way it was presented.”

Murray, unlike Chevy Chase, passed on “Caddyshack 2,” and I don’t think the world sees it as a great tragedy. Given the choice, I’d rather see Murray keep moving forward and inventing compelling new characters like Steve Zissou and “Lost in Translation”‘s Bob Harris than spend his time resurrecting Dr. Peter Venkman once again for what will, in all likelihood, not turn out to be Venkman’s most memorable chapter.