While Bill Murray has made it clear that he will not be appearing in a Ghostbusters sequal, Dan Aykroyd is wanting to expand the universe surrounding the popular 1984 film to a new level.
“It’s beyond just another sequel, a prequel, another TV show. I’m thinking what does the whole brand mean to Sony? What does Pixar and Star Wars mean to Disney? What does Marvel mean to Fox?” he said last week in London, adding that the goal should be, “not just another movie or another TV show, but what’s the totality of it? The whole mythology from the beginning of their lives, the end of their lives. Ghostbusters at nine years old, Ghostbusters in high school.”
After the second Ghostbusters film in 1989, other outlets have been made for fans including a pair of animated television series: The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters.
There is even talk of a third (and fourth) film with an all-female cast. “We need to write it,” Aykroyd said.
But Aykroyd said that the entire Ghostbusters team, including director Ivan Reitman, were now looking at the next ten years, comparing their progress to Ecto, the recognizable Ghostbusters vehicle.
“It’s up on blocks, it needs new electronics, new everything,” he said. “That’s what we have to do. The whole vehicle of Ghostbusters has to be rebuilt. That’s the ambitious thinking that’s going on now. Taking on the model of Marvel where we take all of the elements that are in this movie and we put them out there as different ideas.”
On top of the newly revamped interest in the Ghostbusters, Aykroyd has his hands full with other ventures such as Crystal Head vodka, a sugar-free brand that he co-founded in 2007. Last week he promoted Use Your Head, a series of three-litre skull-shaped vodka bottles designed by London artists.
“Artists around the world have embraced the head, zipping it in leather, casing it in brass, tiles, rhinestones, gold,” said Aykroyd. “We thought, why not do a project where we recognise the artists and see what people come up with? Of course ‘use your head’ works in another sense, in terms of the moderate consumption of our product. We are very focused on that in the United States. I’m fortunate. I don’t have a problem with alcohol so I can consume it.”
Crystal Head is the official vodka of The Rolling Stones.
As far as Ghostbusters goes, Aykroyd wishes Murray would come around to the revamping.
“I wish he were a better partner in the property,” sighed Aykroyd. “It’s kind of like having a piece of real estate with a partner who doesn’t want to develop it. I don’t think it’s fair to the other partners. But that’s his choice. He will always be my friend.”
As for Murray’s suggestion of an all-female cast including Kirsten Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, Aykroyd disagrees.
“If we were going to do it female” he said, “I’d say they’ve gotta be young, in their 20s. And unknowns.”
Aykroyd has been married to actress Donna Dixon (Spies Like Us) for over 30 years. The couple have three daughters together.