Rick Moranis reportedly will not reprise his Louis Tully role in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Moranis also did not take part in the 2016 all-female reboot. The news comes after Bill Murray spoke out publicly about coming back to the franchise for the first time, noting that Jason Reitman’s script is really good. Murray also noted that the script for the highly anticipated sequel has a lot of emotion and doesn’t shy away from the fact that Harold Ramis is no longer with us. As Ghostbusters fans know, Murray has been cagey about a sequel for decades now, so his words should carry some weight.
In the original reports about Bill Murray and Ghostbusters: Afterlife set visits, it is mentioned that Rick Moranis did not return to join the rest of the surviving cast. Joining Murray are Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts. Moranis has largely been out of the spotlight for over 20 years, taking on a few big screen roles here and there, but mostly as a voice actor. The actor stopped working for a while to raise his children after his wife passed away. With that being said, there were many fans who were hoping he’d make a return this time.
As for joining up with the Ghostbusters gang again, it’s something Rick Moranis has been asked about frequently over the years. In 2013, he revealed that he had been reached out to about reprising his role. “I haven’t talked to Dan Aykroyd about it. Somebody he’s associated with called me and I said, ‘I wouldn’t not do it, but it’s got to be good,'” said Moranis at the time. While stating that he was interested to see where Louis Tully is at that time, he did also say that he wasn’t interested in returning to something he’s already done.
Rick Moranis was also not a fan of Ghostbusters 2, which is another reason he was hesitant to jump on board, even back in 2013. He really wanted what ended up being Ghostbusters: Afterlife to be on par with the original, in order to make up for the sequel. When approached again for the 2016 all-female reboot, Moranis again declined. At the time, the actor said the idea did not appeal to him and again noted that he didn’t want to do something that he did 30 years ago, though he did wish them well.
While Rick Moranis doesn’t seem interested in returning to the past, he has had no problem returning to Honey I Shrunk the Kids, the Brother Bear franchise, or SCTV. It seems he may have been soured on the Ghostbusters franchise at some point down the line, which he isn’t talking about. Whatever the case may be, Ghostbusters: Afterlife will have to go on without Louis Tully, unless Rick Moranis comes back for some top secret reshoots before the movie hits theaters. This information was first reported by Vanity Fair.
