Last week brought the shock announcement that Sony’s developing Ghostbusters 3, a new installment in the franchise that’ll sidestep the 2016 reboot and act as a true sequel to the original 80s movies. Jason Reitman, son of Ghostbusters co-creator and director Ivan, will helm the pic and it’s due out in 2020.
Given the close connection to the first films, it’s widely assumed that the OG Ghostbusters will return. In fact, Ernie Hudson – who played Winston Zeddemore – is reported to have to have told The Daily Mail that he, Dan Akyroyd and Bill Murray would be back for Ghostbusters 3. However, in a new interview with The Johnny Dare Morning Show, Hudson explained that he hasn’t actually been approached about appearing in the movie as of yet.
“I don’t know. Nobody has approached me with a contract,” Hudson said, when asked if Winston, Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman would be back to pass the torch – well, proton pack – to the next generation of heroes who ain’t afraid of no ghosts.
Despite this, Hudson remains excited about Ghostbusters 3 and is confident that this time around the new film will give the fans what they want, whether he and the original stars return or not.
“I think the Ghostbusters fans have been wanting [a “passing of the torch”] dynamic to happen, so I know whatever happens is going to be in that tradition… I’m excited about that. I’d be more excited if they called me and offered me a job, but no matter what happens the fact that they’re doing it is really cool.”
Despite these comments, there’s no reason to despair just yet, as Hudson’s words don’t mean that he, Murray and Aykroyd definitely won’t be back. After all, Ghostbusters 3 isn’t even at the casting stage, so it could just be a bit too early for conversations to have started between the studio and the actors. All we know about the new busters is that they’re reportedly going to be four children, two boys and two girls. And at least the teaser trailer confirmed that the old Ecto-1 car will make a return, too.
That’s all we’ve got to go on for now, but as always, we’ll keep you posted when we learn more.