By the time Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters finally hit theaters in 2016, Bill Murray’s refusal to participate in a sequel had become something of internet legend. For years, Sony had hoped to make a third Ghostbusters movie, reuniting the original cast in some capacity. The one hold out, according to various reports, was always Murray, who eventually relented and made a cameo in Feig’s Ghostbusters. This week at Cannes, where Murray put in an appearance to support his role in Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, the actor was asked if he’d be open to appearing in another Ghostbusters movie. Speaking with IndieWire, Murray said, “This franchise paid for my son’s college,” which is about as good an answer as any.
Murray went on to explain that he appeared in Feig’s 2016 reboot not only because of his friendship with stars Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon, but because if he didn’t, it might signal that he didn’t support the film:
I was in that movie just because they asked me, and I knew if I said no, I was saying I didn’t support that movie. I felt like, OK, I’m going to support them because I support them as people. So I did that one and I would do this next one.
“This next one” is, of course, the upcoming Ghostbusters movie from director Jason Reitman, son of original franchise director and producer Ivan Reitman. Unlike the previous films, the new one features kids as the protagonists, evocative of Stranger Things (it even stars Finn Wolfhard). The rest of the IndieWire piece is worth a full read, as Murray also discussed his affection for the original Ghostbusters and its cast, as well as his feelings about big budget studio filmmaking.