Ghostbusters, the comedy classic that spawned a hit single, a sequel, a cartoon series and inspiration for countless fancy dress parties, celebrates its 30th anniversary today (June 8).
While we patiently wait for the long-in-development Ghostbusters 3, here are 30 things you may or may not now about the 1984 movie.
1. In the early '80s, Dan Aykroyd read an article on quantum physics and parapsychology in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. That, coupled with his family's long-standing interest in the paranormal, served as the catalyst for Ghostbusters.
2. Speaking of Aykroyd's family, his great grandfather was a psychic investigator, his grandfather an engineer who created a high-vibration crystal radio to contact the spirit world and his father kept a substantial library of books on the paranormal.
3. The first script drafts of Ghostbusters focused on three characters who battled ghouls with wands instead of proton packs, while the action took place on different planets and planes of reality. Slimer was reportedly dubbed 'Onionhead' and by the end of the film, Ghostbusters had become a franchise business with outlets all across the US.
4. Ghostbusters was originally designed as a vehicle for Aykroyd's Saturday Night Live pal John Belushi (as Peter Venkman). His tragic death meant that Bill Murray stepped into the career-defining role, while green ghost Slimer became the film's tribute to Aykroyd's departed friend Belushi.
5. Harold Ramis took the name of his boffin character from two different sources. Egon Donsbeck was an elementary school classmate, while Oswald Spengler was a noted German historian and philosopher.
6. Chevy Chase allegedly rejected the chance to play Peter Venkman, while Michael Keaton turned down both the Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler roles.
7. John Candy was originally cast to play Dana's neighbour Louis Tully. However, Candy wanted the character to be a German man who kept lots of dogs in his apartment. The creative team balked at this due to the film's already excessive canine imagery and Candy left the role early in the production, to be replaced by Rick Moranis.
8. A young Julia Roberts met with director Ivan Reitman over the role of Dana Barrett.
9. Bill Murray only agreed to take on the part of Peter Venkman after Columbia Pictures guaranteed they'd remake war drama The Razor's Edge with him in the leading role.
10. Eddie Murphy was originally offered the role of Winston Zeddemore, but he turned it down to make the first Beverly Hills Cop instead. The part was scaled back after Murphy's snub (originally he would've been introduced earlier and was the Ghostbuster on the receiving end of Slimer) and Ernie Hudson was cast in the role.
11. Despite being a recognised star thanks to Alien, Sigourney Weaver still had to audition for the role of Dana Barrett. This involved her re-enacting a scene where she transformed into one of Gozer's terrifying dogs, even going as far as barking at director Ivan Reitman!
12. Working titles for the film included Ghoststoppers and Ghost Smashers. The Ghost Busters was actually the name of a children's TV show that ran during the mid-'70s, later revived in animated form after the film became a hit.
13. The FDNY Hook & Ladder building in Tribeca, New York served as the Ghostbusters' headquarters, but thanks to some movie magic the interior was shot in an abandoned fire station in Los Angeles.
14. The film's taglines included: 'We're Ready to Believe You', 'They're Here to Save the World', 'They Ain't Afraid of no Ghost', 'Who ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusters' and 'The Supernatural Spectacular'. On re-release, the film used the dubious tag 'Let's Get Slimed One More Time'.
15. The Ghostbusters' logo - a ghost inside a circular stop sign - was created by the film's associate producer Michael C Gross. In a previous career he was an art consultant and art director for National Lampoon and Esquire.
16.The Proton packs and Slimer were never actually referred to by their specific names in the movie.
17. The suits for the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man cost around $20,000 each to make. Three were produced and all of those were destroyed during shooting. Originally, Reitman wanted to film a scene of Stay-Puft emerging from the sea to get a sense of scale but had to cut it for budgetary reasons.
18. The remains of Mr Stay-Puft weren't marshmallows, but in fact shaving cream. An initial rehearsal of the scene where William Atherton's Walter Peck ("this man has no d**k!") gets covered saw a stuntman knocked to the ground when 75lbs of foam was dropped on him.
19. Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters mode of transportation, is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor Futura. The ambulance/hearse was painted white when producers realised its original black wouldn't be conducive to shooting at night.
20. Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Huey Lewis & The News were first approached to pen the theme, but both declined the offer. Ray Parker Jr eventually scored a US number-one hit with 'Ghostbusters', however Lewis ended up suing for plagiarism due to the similarities with his earlier song 'I Want a New Drug'. The case was eventually settled out of court.
21. Pushed on a tight deadline, Ray Parker Jr needed to assemble backing singers for the chorus calls of "Ghostbusters" in his iconic theme song. Who did he call? His girlfriend and her pals.
22. Ray Parker Jr's 'Ghostbusters' music video featured a veritable who's who of big '80s stars. Alongside the film's four leads, Chevy Chase, John Candy, Jeffrey Tambor, Peter Falk and Carly Simon all appeared. Cindy Harrell, the girl trapped in the haunted house, went on to appear in an episode of The Twilight Zone and Falcon Crest.
23. Legendary news anchor Larry King made his movie debut in Ghostbusters. He later appeared as 'Larry King' in everything from The Exorcist III to Enemy of the State. King has played himself (or a variation thereof) in 22 movies.
24. Porn star Ron Jeremy (he of the significant… moustache) makes an appearance in the movie. He's in a crowd scene stood behind a police barrier. He later played the librarian in the porn parody This Ain't Ghostbusters XXX.
25. "Don't cross the streams." Going against these sage words, uttered by Harold Ramis's Egon Spengler, bailed the Ghostbusters out of their final confrontation with demon Gozer. However, there was no mention of "crossing the streams" in Ramis and Aykroyd's script – this was improvised during filming for the climactic scene (at this point nobody had settled on a satisfactory ending) and afterwards a throwaway mention was put into the film to act as a setup.
26. Director Ivan Reitman did substantial voice work on the movie, chief of which was providing the sinister tones of Dana Barrett's demonic Zuul voice and the slippery green ghost Slimer.
27. Ghostbusters was a rare instance where both audiences and critics were aligned in their opinions. Legendary film writer Pauline Kael, however, wasn't so kind, saying that Bill Murray was the film's only saving grace. "Nobody else has much in the way of material, and since there's almost no give-and-take among the three men, Murray's lines fall on dead air," she wrote in The New Yorker.
28. The film was nominated for two trophies at the Academy Awards. It lost out on Best Original Song to Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' and Best Visual Effects to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
29. Ghostbusters was the all-time highest-grossing comedy movie until the release of Home Alone.
30. After the movie hit big at the box office, it spawned animated series The Real Ghostbusters, which ran from 1986 to 1991. In a supreme twist of irony, the voice of Peter Venkman in the first two seasons was provided by Garfield actor Lorenzo Music. Bill Murray later voiced the ginger cat in two feature films.
Movies Editor
Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.
