Violet Ramis has all but extinguished hopes that a future Ghostbusters film will feature a computer generated version of her father Harold Ramis, who wrote and starred as Egon Spengler in the first two installments to the franchise.
I recently spoke to Violet about her new book “Ghostbuster’s Daughter,” which is a heartfelt and hilarious account of his life, work, legacy and parenting.
Towards the end of our conversation I quizzed Violet about the past rumors, sparked by “Ghostbusters” director Ivan Reitman, that Egon Spengler might be resurrected using the innovative technology that incorporated a young Carrie Fisher into “Rogue One.”
“I don’t think it will happen. I think people love ‘Ghostbusters’ so much that they are willing to try and ask for anything. Nothing should be written off as untouchable.”
“I mean he wasn’t precious about himself or his image. I think he just really loved the idea and wanted it to thrive. It would have to be really great for that. But nothing is impossible.”
The huge popularity of the “Ghostbusters” franchise means that future films of some kind are almost a certainty, something that Violet believes would surprise her dad, who she insisted didn’t really know how deep the the fan base was.
“He knew that there was a lot of fans, and it was a beloved movie. But I don’t think he knew the depth the real community has formed around it.”
Violet admitted that those fans, who are known as Ghostheads, were a huge source of support after Harold’s death.
“That was a really nice surprise after he had passed away. Because there was an outpouring of grief from fans of all kind but really from the Ghosthead community.”
Her relationship with Ghostheads hasn’t always been so rosy. In fact, Violet had a huge issue with how some fans used her father to try and suggest that the 2016 “Ghostbusters” reboot shouldn’t have been made.
“What was hard for me when they were making the new ‘Ghostbusters’ was, I initially thought, ‘How can they do it without him?’ But as I thought about it more I realized it wasn’t sacred. There was the cartoon. There were video games. He certainly wanted it to continue in whatever way.”
“Had he lived he would have been involved. Maybe not in it, but he would have been involved. I just hated to hear people using him as a reason that it shouldn’t continue. Because how better to honor what he had done than to keep it going forever.”
Meanwhile, Violet Ramis also revealed why a “Ghostbusters 3” starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson never materialized.
“I know there were at least a few versions of a script. And they tried. But it was just impossible to get everyone involved. It seemed impossible to do the original people without him. Even if they had done a passing the torch kind of scenario they needed him to sign onto it.”
You can learn more about the making of “Ghostbusters” and its 1989 sequel in “Ghostbuster’s Daughter,” which has just been released, while Violet will present “National Lampoon’s Vacation” at the IFC Center in New York on Thursday, too.
