Matt Rourke, APDan Aykroyd autographs a “Ghostbusters” fan’s shirt while promoting his Crystal Head Vodka brand at a Philadelphia wine and spirits store in 2009.
Writer and star Dan Aykroyd has hinted that the planned second sequel to “Ghostbusters” may move forward without its biggest star, Bill Murray.
Without specifics, Aykroyd suggested during an Empire magazine webchat that Murray’s character, Peter Venkman, might be recast. He also vehemently denied recent Internet rumors that Murray — who reportedly is notoriously prickly about picking projects — shredded the most recent script for “Ghostbusters 3″ and sent it back with a note that read, “No-one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts.”
“Bill Murray is not capable of such behavior. This is simply something that would not be in his nature,” said Aykroyd, who co-starred with Murray not only in the first two “Ghostbusters, but also on the early days of “Saturday Night Live.”
“We have a deep, private personal relationship that transcends business. we communicate frequently and his position on the involvement in ‘Ghostbusters 3′ has been made clear and I respect that. But Bill has too much positive estimation of my writing skills to shred the work,” Aykroyd said.
Whenever “Ghostbusters 3″ does move into production — with or without Murray — it appears Aykroyd is committed to making the long-planned project the best it can be.
“The script must be perfect. we cannot release a film that is any less than that,” he said. “We have more work to do.”
Don’t talk like Sean Bean
Chris Pizzello, APSean Bean, Emilia Clarke, left, and other cast members of “Game of Thrones” appear at a media event in January 2011.
Students in one Sheffield, England, school are being encouraged to drop the region’s distinct dialect in favor of more proper speak. School officials say the Sheffield dialect “isn’t the issue — it’s about communicating effectively.”
But some parents and others see it as a direct assault on the dialect, which in the past has carried a stigma in greater England and is considered by some as lower class. Defenders point out that it hasn’t hurt the careers of people like Sean Bean, the star of “Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings.”
(Though Bean speaks with his native Sheffield dialect in real life, he has sometimes toned it down — or changed his accent altogether — in films like “Goldeneye,” “Don’t Say a Word” and “The Hitcher.”)
“If you have to learn an accent, then you go to a voice coach,” Bean plainly told the Independent newspaper in 2001. “You apply yourself to it. That’s acting.”
Bean will next be seen on the big screen as Snow White’s father in the fairy tale “Mirror Mirror,” opening March 30.
He’ll also reprise his role in an upcoming sequel to the horror movie “Silent Hill,” and his terrorism thriller “Cleanskin” opens March 9 in the United Kingdom, though it does not yet have a U.S. release date. (Let’s hope it gets one. It looks pretty good.)
Bean also plays Ashley Judd‘s late husband — seen in flashbacks — in the new ABC action series “Missing.” It premieres Thursday, March 15.
More around the Web
Frank Franklin II, APEmmy winner Andre Braugher will play a nuclear-submarine captain in the ABC drama pilot “Last Resort.”
• Emmy winner Andre Braugher (“Homicide,” “Men of a certain Age”) will lead the cast of the ABC drama pilot “Last Resort.” It’s about the crew of a nuclear submarine who, after disobeying a suspicious order and becoming fugitives, take over an island and “declare themselves an independent nuclear nation,” according to Deadline.com.
The show is from Shawn Ryan, the writer-producer behind such series as “Terriers,” “The Shield,” “Lie to Me” and “The Unit.”
• British actor Jamie Bamber, the former star of “Battlestar Galactica” and “Law & Order: UK,” has landed the lead role in a new medical drama pilot by David E. Kelley.
“Chelsea General,” about the professional and personal lives of five surgeons, would air on TNT and is based on the upcoming debut novel of CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, titled “Monday Mornings.”
• Check out Vulture’s cheeky critique of the less-than-exciting new poster for “Games of Thrones” Season 2.
• EW.com reports that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s Univision talent show “Q’Viva!” is coming to Fox. It’ll premiere on the network Saturday, March 3.
• Also from EW: Watch an exclusive clip from the Oscar-nominated short “La Luna.” the Oscars air Feb. 26 on ABC.
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