Movies
Latest ‘Ghostbusters III’ Rumor Blames Bill Murray… Again
Deadline just did a report on Columbia Pictures’ struggle to get Ghostbusters III off the ground, with the highlight once again punning the blame on an unsigned Bill Murray. Earlier reports indicated Murray had recently received a new screenplay and now Director IvanReitman and Sony Pictures have no idea if the mercurial Murray will smile on the script they’ve just sent him. Without Murray, the studio absolutely will NOT make the film, which gives an extraordinary amount of leverage to a quirky actor who leaves financiers sweating until the moment he shows up on the set. It appears Murray is to blame. More inside….
Deadline writes:
“This is too big a project to play games. “The studio won’t even think about forward on a $150 million film unless Bill has a closed deal and a commitment,” said an insider. “It’s too huge a risk to do any meaningful prep, hoping he shows up.”
It has been 21 years since the last Ghostbusters sequel, which wasn’t as good as the 1984 original and didn’t gross as much. Despite that, Sony Pictures Entertainment has tried over and over to scare up a new ghost comedy that would entice Murray and his compatriots Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis for another encore. It has gone long past the point when a studio hurries a sequel to capitalize on the momentum of the last film and nobody was going to hurry unless a good script made it worthwhile, Sony has proven adept at figuring out problem sequels: for years, Men in Black 3 seemed unmake-able because of the battles between director Barry Sonnenfeld and producer Walter Parkes, a prohibitive amount of first dollar gross committed, and the inability to agree on a creative direction. When a good script finally materialized, Sonnenfeld and Parkes made peace and talent traded first dollar gross for cash break deals. The picture is slotted for May 25, 2012 release.
SPE thinks it has the same opportunity on Ghosbusters III, because of the script by The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Murray had been aloof about an Ghostbusters but Aykroyd and Ramis felt a thaw after the cast got together a couple of years ago to work on a video game. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky delivered the goods, and Aykroyd, Ramis and Reitman added their own touches before sending the script to Murray. The script brings back the original cast, who pass the torch to newcomers, which sets up future installments.
When the mercurial Murray does turn up on a film set, it’s worth the wait. He’s generating Best Supporting Actor talk for his performance in Get Low, and he was a definite highlight of Sony’s Zombieland. But nobody envies a studio having to rely on him for such a big piece of business, because Murray moves to the beat of his own drum. Even trying to get an answer on Murray’s thoughts conjures up the signature Ghostbusters line, ‘Who you gonna call?’ He has been without an agent for several years and doesn’t have a publicist. He has an attorney but a call to his office was met with the curt reply that they don’t talk to reporters. Bottom line: a yes from Murray moves Ghostbusters III right into pre-production, with shooting to begin as fast as possible. If Murray says no, the film doesn’t have a ghost of a chance. No pressure, Dr. Peter Venkman.”
The trailer for Ti West’s upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol raised a lot of eyebrows when it dropped earlier this week. While plenty of folks initially dismissed Ebenezer as a derivative project meant to cash in on the recent wave of unnecessary prequels that expand the backstory of beloved characters (such as 2023’s Wonka), Charles Dickens’ original novel already made a point of exploring Ebenezer Scrooge’s origins in detail – meaning that this new film is likely just a particularly faithful adaptation of the source material under a different name.
Couple that with the fact that the movie is being helmed by a genuine horror auteur and I think it’s safe to say that the latest iteration of the first modern ghost story is in good hands.
That being said, one detail that immediately jumped out at me during the brief teaser (other than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Johnny Depp’s iconic bedroom death scene from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street) is the fact that many of Ebenezer’s ghosts appear to have been directly lifted from the iconic John Leech illustrations that accompanied the first edition of Dickens’ novel.
Here are a couple of stills from the trailer compared to the original artwork:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
The Phantoms in ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Ebenezer’
Marley’s Ghost in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
Mainly working with old-school wood and steel engravings that would later be transferred to print, Leech was instrumental in crafting the iconic look of history’s most influential phantoms – especially since Dickens is said to have been deeply involved with the creation of these so-called “comic illustrations.”
And since the novel is commonly said to have popularized spiritualism in Victorian England, much of the ghostly iconography that we still see in genre media to this very day (including some of Ti West’s previous films) can be traced back to the author’s partnership with Leech.
Ebenezer won’t be the first A Christmas Carol adaptation to borrow heavily from these designs, but I can appreciate how Ti West is incorporating an important part of horror history into his latest film.
Ebenezer will be available in theaters starting November 13.
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