Ghostbusters' Slimer Was Modelled On John Belushi

Did you now that Slimer, the ‘disgusting blob’ from ‘Ghostbusters’, was in fact modelled on the late John Belushi?

Well, now Dan Aykroyd has confirmed the in-joke among the crew, many of whom had worked with Belushi before his death in 1982.

As is written in legend, the role of Peter Venkman was originally penned for Belushi, before Aykroyd’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ co-hort Bill Murray stepped in.

Aykroyd added that he was actually writing a line in the script for Belushi when he received the call telling him that he had been found dead following a drug overdose.

So Slimer was latterly referred to as ‘The Ghost of John Belushi’, and was, according to Aykroyd, ‘based on John’s body’.

“I will admit to having an inspiration along those lines,” said the ex-Blues Brother.

The top bit of trivia from one of the greatest movies of the 80s is among a wealth of marvellous titbits gleaned in an expansive article published in Vanity Fair this month.

Here are a few of the the other gems:

Bill Murray turned Sigourney Weaver upside down when he first met her…

Ever the wildcard, when Bill Murray was introduced to Sigourney Weaver for the first time on set, outside the public library in New York, he hoisted her up over his shoulder and walked off with her. “I went over and I introduced myself and he said, ‘Hello, Susan’,” she says. “[Then] he picked me up and put me over his shoulder and walked down the block with me… . It was a great metaphor for what happened to me in the movie: I was just turned upside down and I think I became a much better actress for it.”

It was nearly called Ghostbreakers…

How things could have been different for Ray Parker Jr. Can you imagine screaming ‘Ghostbreakers’ at the top of your lungs at a school disco? Not really. Up until late in the production,  it was touch and go as to whether they would be allowed to call the movie ‘Ghostbusters’, due to a 70s kid’s show which was called ‘The Ghost Busters’. ‘Ghost Stoppers’ was also in the running. But after a scene in which hundreds of extras began chanting ‘Ghostbusters’ during filming, producers were convinced they had to clear usage of the name.

There was no fire house HQ…

The iconic abandoned New York fire station HQ was almost a deserted petrol station in New Jersey. There were also plans for a shot of ‘a most unholy makeshift asylum’, which would have been populated by famous dead people.

Weaver auditioned as the ‘terror dog for Ivan Reitman…

“I had to audition for Ivan,” she said. “I remember starting to growl and bark and gnaw on the cushions and jump around. Ivan cut the tape and said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’”

John Candy almost played Louis Tully in a German accent…

It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing tragic nerd Louis Tully than Rick Moranis. Oh, unless it’s John Candy, perhaps. But insanely, director Reitman turned him down. “[Candy] said, ‘I don’t know about this. I could do it, but I should do it with a German accent.’ He wanted [to be flanked] by two big dogs. I said, ‘I’m sorry, John—maybe next time.” When the script went to Moranis, Reitman said: “[Rick] called me back in 12 hours, and said, ‘Thank God Candy hates [it]. This is the greatest script I’ve ever read.’”

There were never plans for Eddie Murphy to play Winston…

“[Murphy] was never a consideration,” said Reitman. “[Ernie Hudson] had this wonderful, likeable, kind of naïve quality, and I just cast him.”

Oscar will be in Ghostbusters III…

If it ever comes to pass, the plans for ‘Ghostbusters III’ is that it will feature Oscar, Dana Barrett’s son, Weaver saying that she had mentioned it to Ivan Reitman. “I said, I have one condition want my son Oscar [from Ghostbusters II] to be a Ghostbuster,” she said. “And he said, ‘We’ve already done that.’”