Ivan Reitman confirms Bill Murray likely won't appear in 'Ghostbusters 3'

Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman confirmed on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival that Bill Murray likely won't be returning to the franchise for the possible third movie.

Reitman spoke with CBC News and said that the Meatballs actor has gone back and forth about whether to be involved in another Ghostbusters film, but the director doesn't think Murray really wants to do it.

"Every once in a while [Murray] would say, 'it would be kind of nice to do another one if only I find a script that was good enough,'" Reitman said. "But in his brain and his heart, I don't think it's really there."

While Murray probably would pass, Reitman did say that if there is any way he would do it would be due to Dan Aykroyd, notes the Toronto Sun . He explained it worked previously for Meatballs.

"When [Aykroyd] sent the script to me, he'd already talked to Bill. And the result was this was one time I didn't have to track Bill down and beg him to be in my movie."

The rumor mill has been churning over the possibility of a female-fronted Ghostbusters 3 and Reitman didn't deny it, but noted he would prefer to let fans create their own rumors without confirming or adding to them.

Still, Reitman was willing to note, "We've always talked about having a very strong female presence in whatever Ghostbusters version we're going to tell."

TIFF revealed on Friday that they would be celebrating Bill Murray Day as his latest film, St. Vincent premieres there. In addition, the film festival organizers urged attendees to show up dressed as their favorite of Murray's movie characters.

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