Splitsider

Dan Aykroyd announced on his Facebook page last night that he and Chevy Chase are "about to start work on a script concept for a comedy movie." He didn't say anything else about, you know, what the concept is, but as long as it isn't "Chevy Chase stealing Bill Murray's identity and face and making Ghostbusters 3," I'm on board. On second thought, Chevy Chase stealing Bill Murray's face to make Ghostbusters 3 sounds like it would definitely be entertaining. Kind of a Ghostbusters meets Face/Off meets Old Dogs sort of thing.

The latest word in unnecessary threequels: Bill Murray's refusal to make Ghostbusters 3 will not stop Dan Aykroyd, who says he'll just re-cast the part of Peter Venkman. The weirdest thing about this is that Aykroyd assures audiences that Rick Moranis will be involved in the third movie, because “None of us would want to do the movie without having him as a participant." Why he doesn't feel that way about Bill Murray, whose role in the original film was about twelvety billion times more important than Moranis', is a mystery the likes of which no one has seen since the outbreak of unexplained paranormal activity in 1980s [...]

This week marks the 25th anniversary of Three Amigos, one of the best-regarded comedies of the 1980's and one that brought together a half-dozen of the greatest comedic minds going at the time. Three Amigos starred Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short, was written by Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, and Randy Newman (who also composed the music and did the voice of the Singing Bush), and was directed by John Landis, who even hired a pre-SNL Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz for supporting roles. Few comedies can boast a team that is so remarkable and that made such a significant mark on comedy, both separately and together. The [...]

A crucial part of the original Saturday Night Live cast, one of the most esteemed and influential ensembles in television history, Dan Aykroyd kicked his career off with a bang and continued creating great comedy for years to come, working as both a writer and actor in some of the most memorable and respected films of the 1980s. Sure, he now spends his time rambling about UFOs to anyone who will listen and selling his own brand of vodka that comes in miniature crystal skulls, but let's just focus on the good stuff.

Dan Aykroyd has made many smart career decisions over the years (especially the early ones). Like [...]

There has been a lot of talk of this Ghostbusters 3 movie that's in the works, something that I'm not so sure is a great idea. And neither is Bill Murray, based on interviews he's given. But that won't stop 'em from making it! Apparently, the script is currently being revised by Dan Aykroyd. Here's how he responds to questions about Bill Murray's shit talking:

"I think he was concerned that the writing on Ghostbusters 3 by these guys would not be up to standard, but I can tell you firsthand, I'm working on the script now and those two — Stupnitsky and Eisenberg — wrote [...]

Unpopular Opinions is a new weekly column in which a writer takes a stand against popular opinion, whether it's asserting the true merit of a supposedly guilty pleasure or dissenting against the universally lauded.

By now we know that Steven Spielberg is not an untouchable director. In 40 years of filmmaking, of course there are going to be some flops. But the World War II comedy 1941 (1979) remains one of his more famous disasters. Briefly, 1941 follows a large group of characters through one hysterical day in and around Los Angeles just after Pearl Harbor as everyone prepares for a possible Japanese attack. To say that [...]

While Harold Ramis isn’t quite a household name, he absolutely should be. As a writer/director, the man shaped the big screen personas of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Rodney Dangerfield, amongst others, defined the comedic tastes of a generation, and had more of an effect on American film humor than just about anybody in the past few decades. Before conquering Hollywood, Ramis performed at Second City Chicago, on The National Lampoon Radio Hour, and on SCTV (where he also served as head writer). Ramis then went on to write, direct, and/or star in a string of hit comedies that includes Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, National Lampoon's Vacation, [...]

Lost Roles is a weekly column exploring what might have been in TV and film comedy, taking a different comedian, writer, or work each week and examining the casting possibilities and career moves that almost came to be. This week: the nixed casting possibilities for the 1978 movie Animal House.

It's difficult to put into perspective how huge a pop cultural event the release of National Lampoon's Animal House was in the summer of 1978. While there was a big hubbub made over The Hangover two years ago when it became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time; when inflation is factored in, that film pales in comparison [...]

It's hard to pinpoint the most insane part of this Dragnet "City of Crime" video music. Is it the goat people? Is it the sexy lady cops, a population that in 1987 was just entering its heyday, ripping off their uniforms? Maybe it's the fact that Hanks and Aykroyd insist on rapping the cult members their rights, or the cult member's extended rap break? Is it the fact that Tom Hanks is shouting the entire time, or that we see Dan Aykroyd dressed like a male stripper while trapped in what is clearly a go-go cage? Oh no, wait, it's a blend of all those things. But predominantly [...]

Bill Murray's last movie was a well-reviewed dark independent film about a hermit wanting to host his funeral before he dies. Dan Aykroyd's latest movie is Yogi Bear, which has a new trailer you can see below.

Dan Aykroyd has finally woken up and smelled the roses, who happen to be wearing a perfume called Eau de Bill Murray Will Never Do Ghostbusters 3. "It’s a surety that Bill Murray will not do the movie," he said. "However, there is still interest from the studio." He also promises that even in the case of a Murrayless threequel, "We’re not going to do a movie that exploits the franchise. The script has to be perfect." Perfect, eh? Well, considering that two scripts have already been attempted, those standards should ensure that this will-they-make-it saga continues until we are all real ghosts, just waiting to be [...]

I guess Bill Murray finally found the time to give that Ghostbusters 3 script a read. Extremely reliable news source The National Enquirer has reported that Murray hated it so much he physically shredded the script and sent it back to Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, along with a note saying, “No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts!” Now, it is tempting to decide that this story is simply too AMAZING to be true, like unicorns or fairies, but, as with unicorns and fairies, we must still believe. We must always believe.

What's a worse idea than a new Ghostbusters movie? A new Ghostbusters movie without Bill Murray in it. But that's just what we may be getting, according to Dan Aykroyd: Yes, we will be doing the movie and hopefully with Mr. Murray. That is our hope. We have an excellent script. What we have to remember is that Ghostbusters is bigger than any one component, although Billy was absolutely the lead and contributive to it in a massive way, as was the director and Harold [Ramis], myself and Sigourney [Weaver]. The concept is much larger than any individual role and the promise of Ghostbusters 3 is that we [...]

Here's Ernie Hudson on the progress of the mythical Ghostbusters 3: Dan and Harold are working on the script. If it happens we will see but Bill has been the hold up. His definition of good is a little bit different than everybody elses. So we will see, I would love to see it happen. I know the fans have been asking for it…so hopefully.

His definition of good is a little bit different! I'll be honest, I'm going to trust the guy who's definition of good is Get Low, Broken Flowers, and Lost in Translation over pretty much everyone else involved with this project. I mean, no [...]