Bill Murray Still Not Doing Ghostbusters 3, Also Not Osama Bin Laden

Bill Murray put a halt to to his random karaoke appearances and CNBC interviews on Tuesday morning so that he could call in for a scheduled interview with Howard Stern, where the actor was slated to promote Get Low on DVD. As soon as the notoriously reclusive star jumped on the line though, Stern probed the actor about his many casting rumors, including Ghostbusters 3.

“Yeah, Ivan wants to make it and I… I owe him, ya know,” Murray revealed. “He’s puzzled that I haven’t gotten to this [script]. […] Well, I’ll get to it. I gotta get to it. I feel bad. I got a message and I think people — I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. It’s not the foremost thing in my mind, so I don’t think about it. You know, the studio gets excited every 10 years or so.”

His reluctance is not because of an issue with his co-stars — “We really are funny together.” — but because of an issue with how the last Ghostbusters film turned out.

“I only made one sequel,” Murray told Stern. “It was Ghostbusters 2, and it didn’t end up the way it was presented.”

Among the other topics discussed…

Los Angeles: “I only lived in Los Angeles for one time and it was for about nine months. They have flowers that bloom at night, the Night Blooming Jasmine. That’s really the high point [for the city].”

His reclusiveness: “I’m on your show this morning so it’s not like I’m in deep hiding. It’s not like I’m Bin Laden or anything.”

On being offered the role of Han Solo in Star Wars: “I don’t know. Maybe. I never heard that one. I liked the job Harrison Ford did. I hear these stories. I was offered the job of pope too but they couldn’t reach me. The papacy can be a handful though.”

On whether he’s a genius: “No. I mean, I’m pretty good at what I do. I’m as good as anyone in my neighborhood.”

On whether or not he watches Saturday Night Live: “I catch up with it. […] My friend [and longtime Saturday Night Live writer] Jim Downey will […] send me discs of the best sketches. […] I like this cast a lot. I think it’s the best cast since the first one.”

[via HowardStern.com]