Aykroyd: 'Ghostbusters 3' Might Re-cast Peter Venkman

It feels like its been a minute or two since there's been "Ghostbusters 3" news worth reporting.

It's also a damn shame that silence must be broken with Ray Stantz himself providing a disappointing update.

During a recent chat with Empire Magazine, Dan Aykroyd broke the good and bad casting news: though he confirmed the current "Ghostbusters 3" script draft includes both Rick Moranis and Bill Murray's respective characters, Aykroyd indicated Murray can be all but ruled out right now. That being said, Aykroyd said it's untrue that Murray sent his friend back a shredded "Ghostbusters 3" script with a note reading "No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts."

"Bill Murray is not capable of such behavior," Aykroyd said. "This is simply something that woudl not be in his nature. We have a deep, private 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."

That doesn't mean necessarily writing out Murray's Peter Venkman completely. Aykroyd hinted that he isn't beyond casting another actor to fill the part.

Still, Aykroyd's update didn't paint a picture of a story anywhere near production-ready.

"The script must be perfect. We cannot release a film that is any less than that. We have more work to do," he commented.

Curiously, Aykroyd comes across adament that a "Ghostbusters" three-quel absolutely must include Rick Moranis reprising nerdy friend, hanger-on and, by the end of "Ghostbusters 2," fellow Ghostbuster Louis Tully. Despite Moranis being 15 years into a happy retirement from movies, Aykroyd seemed more confident about getting his fellow Canadian comedian on-board than about changing Murray's mind.

"If we can get the script to 'Ghostbusters 3' right, then it would definitely have Moranis as a major component," Aykroyd said. "None of us would want to do the movie without having him as a participant."