Bill Murray Says Melissa McCarthy Should Be in 'Ghostbusters 3'

Bill Murray gives two thumbs up to the idea of a Ghostbusters 3 movie with an all-female cast — and the Chicago funnyman says Plainfield native Melissa McCarthy would make a great ghostbuster.

Murray starred in the first two Ghostbusters with Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis, who lived in Glencoe and worked in Highland Park until his death in February at the age of 69.

Ramis co-wrote Ghostbusters, and with his death hopes for a reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise dimmed, but Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two movies, says he’ll produce Ghostbusters 3.

A new cast has not been set, but this weekend Murray offered his casting choices during Bill Murray Day at the Toronto Film Festival: McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Emma Stone and Linda Cardelini.

“Melissa would be a spectacular Ghostbuster,” Murray told the Toronto Star. “And Kristen Wiig is so funny — God, she’s funny!”

Some fans of the originals have criticized the idea of an all-female sequel.

“I’m fine with it,” said Murray, who grew up in Wilmette. “I would go to that movie, and they’d probably have better outfits, too.”

McCarthy, born and raised in Plainfield and a graduate of what’s now Joliet Catholic Academy, said she hasn’t been approached about the movie. The Emmy Award-winning actress scored a hit, along with Wiig, in Bridesmaids and will appear with Murray in a new comedy-drama, St. Vincent.

“I think that somebody is really trying to do it, but nobody has talked to me about it,” she told the Star. “Listen, if the people I think are doing it are doing it, I must never question them.”

Tina Fey, who broke into comedy at Second City in Chicago, is a rumored candidate, too. If asked, McCarthy would be all in.

“Oh, my God, that’s daunting. That’s taking on a legend, a legendary movie. But I would do anything with those ladies, anything at all.”

Who would you cast in Ghostbusters 3?