Harold Ramis has confirmed to Chicago Tribune’s Pop Machine that Judd Apatow is officially on board as co-producer of the newly announced Ghostbusters III which will be scribed by NBC’s The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky.

Ramis who played the scientist Egon in the two films to date, also confirms the movie is being made with the intention of having the original four cast members as “mentors” to a newer generation which will now almost certainly involve Seth Rogen (because of Apatow’s involvement) and probably Paul Rudd. I think those two more than any other are shoe-ins here.

He says, also talking about Bill Murray and the rest of the gang’s return…

“yes, columbia is developing a script for GB3 with my [Year One] writing partners, gene stupnitsky and lee eisenberg. judd apatow is co-producing [Year One] and has made several other films for sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent. aykroyd, ivan reitman and i are consulting at this point, and according to dan, bill murray is willing to be involved on some level. he did record his dialogue for the new ghostbusters video game, as did danny and i, and ernie hudson. the concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity”.

I would agree that Murray’s recent willingness to have any kind of involvement in the Ghostbusters franchise after years of declining offers means there is at least some hope in convincing him to return to this series.

I mean hell, he was playing an agent who lived in a tree in Get Smart this Summer, it’s hardly like he is looking for Academy Award winning roles.

If you get Hudson, Aykroyd & Ramis to agree on a return but not Murray, then you have a huge gap in your movie that I’m not sure could be filled.

source - coming soon