Celebrating Halloween, veteran actor Dan Aykroyd mentioned that the ‘Ghostbusters’ film was almost released under another name because of a rights issue. He recalled that the project had already started filming even though the name could not have been finalized since they did not have the rights to the official term.
Dan Aykroyd talks about how the ‘Ghostbusters’ was almost released under a different name
On X (previously known as Twitter), the 74-year-old actor opened up about the beloved 1984 film and how the project started filming without even having the final name confirmed. “Taft Broadcasting owned the title ‘Ghostbusters’ as part of their half-hour sitcom starring Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker (F-Troop) and a gorilla chasing ghosts. I had never heard of it,” he shared.Providing more details, he continued, “They didn’t have proton packs or Bill Murray. Columbia paid $500,000 to buy the name, but they really should have paid Dean Martin, from whom I first heard the term. In the film Scared Stiff (1953), he and Jerry Lewis (check out his acrobatic stair descent) are in an old haunted castle, and Lizabeth Scott asks Dean, ‘Who are you guys?’ And Dean answers, “You’ve heard of Trustbusters and Gangbusters; we’re Ghostbusters!”He concluded that he did a lot of work on the film and shared, “For my research writing the first movie, I watched every single ‘ghost’ comedy ever made. Bowery Boys, Hope and Crosby, Abbot and Costello, and Martin and Lewis all did such films. Happy Halloween 2026.”In 2024, Ernie Hudson, who was also part of the main ‘Ghostbusters’ gang, talked about the film’s origin. While attending the Galaxy Con Columbus, he credited Harold Remis for making the film a possibility. He added, “I think the reason you have Ghostbusters is because of Harold Ramis. Harold was the guy who everyone respected enough to look past their own stuff.”He shared that Ramis fought for the film, and “you know, he said something: everybody trusted Harold, and so whenever things would happen and people would sort of scatter, Harold was the one that sort of got everybody back to the table.”The first ‘Ghostbusters’ was released in 1984 and so far has been followed up by a sequel and a three-film reboot series.