Bill Murray to appear in Ghostbusters reboot

Dust off (or wipethe slime off)all your favourite Ghostbusters clichs, becauseBill Murray is on board to appear in the reboot of the 1980sfilm franchiseafter all.

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The comedian and actor,predictable in his unpredictability, has agreed to appear in the 2016 film featuring an all-female ghostbusting teamafter years of sayinghe was done with the franchise, Variety and the Hollywood Reporter say.

Murray, who starred as PeterVenkmanin the originalGhostbusters(1984) and its lessersequel,GhostbustersII(1989),had never been keen on reprising the role.

One story that circulated in 2011 claimed that Murray ran one version ofaGhostbusters3script through a shredder and mailed it back to co-writers HaroldRamisand DanAykroyd.

He explained his lack of interest in revisiting the franchise in a2014 interview withDazed & Confused magazine, saying:"I find that you don't really lose by saying no in show business. If you say no, sometimes they come back with a better script. Or sometimes it just goes away."

'He just likes to be surprising'

Apparently Murray believes the new approach conceived by director Paul Feig and that will feature the ghostbusting team ofKristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon andMelissa McCarthy is more to his liking than the more straightforward sequel that original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman was slated to helm.

Reitmantold CBC News last year that he didn't expect Murray to rejoin the franchisebecause "his brain and his heart" weren't in it, but that Murraywould occasionally say he'd do it if the rightscript came along.

"He just likes to be surprising," said Reitman.

It's not clear if Murray will reprisehis original role, but another previous ghostbuster will also appear in the film. Aykroyd revealed last month that he shot a scene for the reboot.

The Sonyfilm, also called Ghostbusters, isset to debut July 22.