John Belushi Was Composed Of Equal Parts Brilliance, Bad Decisions, And Pure Cocaine

For three decades, we've been treated to numerous looks-back on the Dan Aykroyd-John Belushi comedy team, and the one perfect film they managed to make, 1980's The Blues Brothers. So much dirt has already been dished over the decades that it almost feels like we know everything we'll ever need to about the hard-partying tendencies that ultimately killed Belushi in 1982. We would be mistaken, as a new Vanity Fair profile will no doubt demonstrate that however many skeletons you think might have been unearthed, there's always room for one or two more in the mass grave of a dead celebrity's life story.

The January issue features a new and very detailed look into the making of The Blues Brothers. Part fond remembrance, part cautionary tale, and part "Jesus H Christ, seriously. You seriously did all that," it delivers absolutely delicious — and absolutely tragic — stories from Belushi's friends, family and former coworkers about that film's troubled production. We've culled a few choicer nuggets from the online preview:

* The '70s were even more decadent than we think. According to Dan Aykroyd, "We had a budget in the movie for cocaine for night shoots" during the making of The Blues Brothers. And just like that, films like Zardoz suddenly begin to make more sense.

* Belushi's drug problem had gotten so out of hand that they actually asked Carrie Fisher - Carrie Fisher! - to keep him from consuming. I wonder if they also asked Chevy Chase to keep Dan Aykroyd from making bad decisions about the roles he intended to take during the late '80s and early '90s.

* Belushi and Robert Downey, Jr. have a lot in common: Apparently Belushi disappeared from the set one night, and Aykroyd found him at a nearby home where, the homeowner told him, Belushi had just showed up, raided the man's fridge like it wasn't even a thing, and passed out on the couch.

Obviously, this thing just became required, end-of-the-year reading. It goes without saying also that we're very glad this kind of addiction is no longer enabled so blatantly.

[Source: Vanity Fair]

Ghostbusters 3 Is 'Closer Than Ever'

Ghostbuster fans have waited for what seems like an eternity for a follow-up, but the spooky adventure comedy is on track for a third apparition 23 years after Ghostbusters II hit the big screen.

Speaking with Esquire, Dan Aykroyd said that he and director Ivan Reitman are "closer than we ever have been" to getting the project underway, he noted via Yahoo U.K. One obstacle though is that Ghostbusters I & II star Bill Murray may be a no-show, though Aykroyd and Reitman are holding out that he may just come on board in the end.

"I'm not sure Billy [has to sign on] anymore, since he abrogated his rights by sort of saying, two years ago, 'I don't want to be involved,'" Aykroyd said according to Yahoo Movies U.K. "The picture company I think had some clause in there that if he actually passed on the third of fourth offer, he no longer has a view of the franchise."

But a Ghostbusters III sans Murray will not be a mortal wound should the likely re-do go ahead. The creative team, he notes, will even leave a space should all work out in the end.

"We have to move on, but we’ll always leave a hole for him. He’s always there. He can always come back at any time and be rebuilt into it, as far as I’m concerned. That’s up to his lawyer and the picture company to work out, but creatively, he will always be a part of it."

Continuing Aykroyd added: "If it does not happen, the life of Dan Aykroyd and his family and friends will be quite full without Ghostbusters 3."

[Source: Yahoo U.K.]

Rumor: Bill Murray Reportedly Shredded Ghostbusters 3 Script In Brilliant Act of Defiance

Presenting the best-worst Bill Murray rumor of the week: The National Enquirer (I know, I know) reports that the actor has finally gotten around to that Ghostbusters threequel script he had been avoiding for months -- by shredding it and sending the carnage to Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis along with a note that read, "No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts!" Fictional tabloid Bill Murray kind of has a point. [The Playlist]