Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman reveals Bill Murray prevented original series becoming a trilogy

'He didn’t want to do anything that would sully the other movies'

Before Paul Feig's all-female Ghostbusters, there was the 1984 original from director Ivan Reitman as well as its sequel which followed in 1989.

Over the years, plenty of ideas were floated around which would have seen the original franchise become a trilogy - however Reitman has now revealed the constant obstacle he and the cast faced in bringing a third Ghostbusters to fruition: Bill Murray.

Speaking to Vulture, Reitman said: "Bill was always the holdout."

He continued:

"I think he was just not interested. He loves Ghostbusters, and he appreciated all the good that it did for all of us, but he just wanted to pursue different things as an actor. And at the same time, he didn’t want to do anything that would sully the other movies."

We can forgive Bill for this; in cinematic terms, nothing seems worse than ending a beloved series on a sour note. This didn't stop Murray being later tempted by ideas that were put into a fully-fledged script by Reitman, co-star Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis.

Describing the most recent version of their screenplay, Reitman said: "Bill and Sigourney's kid, Oscar, is a postgrad student, and weird things start to happen. Bill Murray dies in the first scene, because he always said, 'I won't do it unless I die.' And I said, 'Okay, you got it.' It was a father-son story, with him as a ghost. By the way, the studio green-lit it. Everything was ready to go. I couldn't get [Bill's] attention, and in the midst of that, Harold got really sick. And that was pretty much it."

Bridesmaids director Feig's Ghostbusters reboot - despite opposition from internet trolls - has defied expectations by receiving generally positive reviews. It is expected to perform well at the box office following its UK debut on Monday and its release Stateside today.