Last Monday, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon welcomed a reunion fans of ''80s comedies have been dying to see. Just ahead of the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson sat on the late-night talk show couch to talk about the experience of stepping back into the shoes of some of the most famous characters from their careers. In the new installment of the franchise, the 'busters will reprise their roles of Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore, only this time they called back into action when a new generation gears up to face a growing supernatural threat.
In the interview, the trio makes it clear that their quick-witted dynamics haven’t changed over the years and they were excited to put on their Ghostbusters uniforms again, even though they felt tighter and the gear, heavier.
They also talked about their free time in-between filming, and Aykroyd and Murray remembered their stint on Saturday Night Live. The trio also talked about Jason Reitman as a kid on the original Ghostbusters set (the director is taking over the project from his father, Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two installments and now serves as executive producer), and joked that he and his sister Catherine Reitman were both “annoying”.
Aykroyd, Hudson, and Murray also remembered the movie almost wasn’t called Ghostbusters, and talked about the connection between the original pair of films and the new film. Aykroyd shared a lot of love for his fellow cast members, especially the new lead Paul Rudd:
“There’s some great new creatures on it, great new fun in it. The Ecto[plasm] is doing things that you never saw it do before. McKenna Grace is a spectacular actress, and she’s basically gonna be our new CEO. And then we have, of course, Paul Rudd, a master comedian. […] As Billy was the leading comic, you know, leading man of his generation, Paul is gonna be taking that torch up, I think.”
Rudd is set to pick up the slack in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and is probably going to keep helming the franchise, should it continue on with further installments. Aside from him, the cast also features Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Annie Potts, Tracy Letts, and Sigourney Weaver.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife premieres this Friday, November 19, in theaters everywhere. You can watch the full interview below, broken down in two clips: