Eddie Murphy Reveals He Turned Down ‘Ghostbusters’!
There’s nothing more entertaining than the “what if?” conversation, especially when it comes to the Ghostbusters ensemble.
It’s pretty well-known that the Peter Venkman role was written for John Belushi and his specific comedic style, and that his death in 1982 forced rewrites with Bill Murray eventually landing the role. (Slimer was later designed as a tribute to Belushi.)
In a recent interview with AP promoting his new Netflix documentary “Being Eddie,” Murphy revealed his “big three ‘wish I would have done’ movies.”
“Ghostbusters, I was supposed to do Ghostbusters,” Murphy recalled. “Didn’t do that, and Rush Hour. Didn’t do that. Oh, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Those are my big three ‘wish I would have done’ movies.”
The reason Murphy passed on the role was that he had to choose between that and playing Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop.
“With Ghostbusters, I did Beverly Hills Cop instead,” he said with an ounce of regret. “It was do this or that, so it worked out cool. And Who Framed Roger Rabbit just sounded ridiculous to me, and I passed on it. And afterwards, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s fucking amazing.’”
At the box office, Beverly Hills Cop and Ghostbusters were comparable rivals in the 1980s. Ghostbusters made approximately $295 million worldwide for Ghostbusters in 1984, though Beverly Hills Cop eclipsed it with approximately $316 million. Ghostbusters II generated approximately $215 million worldwide, compared to Beverly Hills Cop II‘s approximately $277 million, giving the advantage in franchise earnings to the Eddie Murphy franchise, even with a sharp drop-off with Beverly Hills Cop III in 1994.
“Being Eddie” is now streaming on Netflix.
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