I do wonder what concessions they had to make to finally get Murray on board? Without Harold Ramis, I wonder if Murray is finally getting his way on the script?
There's nothing that has indicated that this is a direct sequel, which is what had blocked Sony from making a straight GB3 (plus, you know, Aykroyd and Reitman being fucking ghoulish about saying "we're shooting GB3 in a few months and it's got the old crew" when Ramis couldn't fucking walk for the last few years of his life). Young kids who dig up the old shit, basically doing the Stranger Things gag, is about all Sony is allowed to about to do.
Edit: And the GB2 contracts say that the only way a direct sequel happens is if the four principals (Reitman, Ramis, Aykroyd, Murray) agree, obviously Ramis is out of the way, but Murray ... I don't see that happening. I'll buy premium accounts for three people if that (as in a real GB3) happens.
As I understand it, the agreement was that Murray, Ackroyd, and Ramis all had to agree on the story and they never could. It's possible that the main disagreements on story were between Murray and Ramis and, with Ramis now gone, so has the dispute.
Murray had a miserable experience on GB2--not unfairly, as it was being re-written on set and they did extensive re-shoots about two months before the movie came out--and that was why he has steadfastly refused to do another movie. He and Ramis reconciled a few weeks before Ramis' death after Brian Doyle-Murray basically said he'd break his brother's arm if Bill didn't do it. But that said, Venkman in GB1 has always been one of Murray's favorite roles and he's very protective of it.
Edit: And the Murray / Ramis feud happened during the shooting of Groundhog Day. Basically, that the movie turned out as well as it did is a combination of a happy accident and a minor miracle.
Murray was drinking and drugging harder than ever and going through an incredibly messy divorce, and as a result he was constantly getting into very public fights with Ramis on the set, with the arguments often getting very cruel and personal; Ramis is quoted in an interview as saying, "Bill, you're not a child, you don't need to throw a tantrum, just tell me what you want." Murray was often sending script rewrites to Ramis' co-writer, Danny Rubin, who would sometimes call Ramis at three in the morning and say, "You'll never guess what Bill sent over now..."
Murray and Ramis also had very different opinions about the tone of the movie. Murray would make noise about wanting it to be more of an existentialist drama, and Ramis would say to him, "Come the fuck on, Bill, it's a comedy."
When Ramis called cut on Murray's final scene, Murray walked up to him and said, "I have nothing more to say to you," and walked off set. They didn't speak again, outside of exchanging brief pleasantries at a wake, until a few weeks before Ramis' death, only because Brian Doyle-Murray strong-armed Bill into it upon learning how sick Ramis was.
Last edited: