Corona | Coming Attractions

John Hodgman, the actor who rocked to mainstream fame by playing the PC user in the infamous Apple vs. PC TV ads, has hinted that he may have been approached to play a plum role in Ghostbusters III.

Hodgman said it himself during a radio talk show. These were his own words: "If you were hypothetically offered a role in Ghostbusters 3… would you take the role? Let’s say you’re [playing] sort of the dissolute son of Egon, the Harold Ramis character, and you’re kind of like John Candy in Splash, you’re kind of a mess. But it turns out you’re a natural ghost-whisperer, a natural psychic. But here’s the thing: Bill Murray’s not going to be in this movie, and probably not happy that you are. But you get to be in a major role, in a major movie and one of the greatest franchises of all time. Would you do it?"

The news spun out across the movie website community, igniting speculation that Hodgman was up for playing Harold Ramis' character's son in the three-quel. Finally, Hodgman addressed the controversy in a tweet: "I AM NOT APPEARING IN GHOSTBUSTERS 3... That was a fake #radiocastingnews joke."

Was it?

Ready for some more Ghostbusters III rumors? A leading horror website scoops a story that they heard that draws a connection between a character introduced in Ghostbusters II and the next movie: that baby Oscar was in fact the love child between Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver's two characters. Twenty years have passed and the now adult Oscar will supposedly follow in the footsteps of his pappy and bust some ghosts in the three-quel.

The site also mentions that -- and here's the bigger story in our opinion -- Rich Moranis will be back to play uber-nerd Louis Tully. Really!

Bill Murray was on today's Late Night With David Letterman and was asked what the deal was with Ghostbusters 3; will he be in it or not? If you've heard past answers from Murray then there's nothing in his Letterman appearance that's new, but this time we get to hear and see him answer the question himself.

"I'll come back in Ghostbusters III only if I get to be a ghost." There, he said it.

The man in question was Bill Murray, star of the first two Ghostbusters movies, and the outlet he told this to was The Daily Mail. The rumors are true; Murray is willing to come back and star in Ghostbusters III only if he gets to be a specter.

"I said to them, 'I'll do it if you kill me off in the first reel.' So now they are going to have me as a ghost in the film." [Full story]

While being interviewed by Heeb magazine, Ghostbuster Harold Ramis had this answer about the second sequel:

"Something’s going to happen. Dan [Aykroyd] did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it," Ramis said. "Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel. We'll introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too. Think Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future ... GB3 is progressing with plans to shoot next summer and release in 2011."

[Full story]