Update: John Hodgman has tweeted: “ANSWER THREE: I AM NOT APPEARING IN GHOSTBUSTERS 3. Nor is @scharpling. That was a radio #fakecastingnews joke.” Hilarious. You can get on with your day now.
Oh good! Another “Ghostbusters 3” rumor! Nothing like movie news for a sequel no one wants to film that will probably never happen. Sigh. Anyway, this latest biblical revelation comes from “The Best Show” program on WFMU which io9 (via movies.com) were recently tuned into. Nerd fave John Hodgman was a guest on the program and during a conversation about real life ghosts he dropped a pretty elaborate “hypothetical” story that is a bit hard to ignore.
“If you were hypothetically offered a role in ‘Ghostbusters 3…’would you take the role? Let’s say you’re [playing] sort of the dissolute son of Egon, the Harold Ramis character, and you’re kind of like John Candy in ‘Splash,’ you’re kind of a mess. But it turns out you’re a natural ghost-whisperer, a natural psychic,” he teased. “But here’s the thing: Bill Murray‘s not going to be in this movie, and probably not happy that you are. But you get to be in a major role, in a major movie and one of the greatest franchises of all time. Would you do it?”
So just how hypothetical is that story? Yeah, seems pretty legit and it’s not the first time Hodgman has been linked to the movie. As io9 points out, both Hodgman and Patton Oswalt said in the spring of 2010 that they would say “no” if offered “Ghostbusters 3.” But we presume — at least for Hodgman — that was before a real check, with real numbers and real zeroes on the end of it, became a viable possibility.
We’re not quite sure why Hodgman is treating this decision like it’s a life and death situation. Whether or not he joins will probably not change the fact that Sony is unlikely to greenlight a $150 million dollar movie without a major star (ie. Bill Murray). And moreover, we doubt Murray will give a shit or even pay attention if “Ghostbusters 3” goes on without him. But if anything, if this story is more than just “hypothetical,” it does confirm what Dan Aykroyd said last month, that they are casting for three males and one female to presumably be the new breed of Ghostbuster. Good luck finding Peter Venkman, guys.
