Zombieland: Double Tap Director Debunks Ghostbusters Cameo Rumor

While there were quite a few moments that stuck with theater-goers when they saw Zombieland back in 2009, the most memorable scene from the film likely revolved around its top-secret cameo. The crew of characters in the horror comedy wind up in Los Angeles a little over halfway through the movie, and Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) decides they should take up residency in the house of Bill Murray. It turns out Murray is still alive, if only for a few minutes, because he's soon killed trying to prank Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg). The whole cameo is hilarious and shocking in all the right ways, and it led to plenty of speculation that the film's sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap, would try and up the ante.

There were reports early in Double Tap's production that not only would Murray be returning for the sequel, but that Ghostbusters co-star Dan Aykroyd would also have a cameo of his own. As it turns out, that rumor didn't have any real truth to it. Ahead of Zombieland: Double Tap's release this weekend, director Ruben Fleischer sat down with Cinemablend's ReelBlend podcast and put an end to the Aykroyd discussions.

"No, he was never in anything," Fleischer said. "There was an earlier draft long, long, long, long ago that featured not only Bill Murray, but the Ghostbusters. I think it was long enough ago that perhaps even Harold Ramis was still alive, and I think that draft leaked somehow, and so someone took it upon themselves to enter it into IMDB, but it was never anything that we actually pursued."

If anything, this should give you an idea of just how long this sequel has been in the works. Harold Ramis sadly passed away five years ago, in 2014, so any draft including him in a cameo wouldn't have come any time recently. A Zombieland sequel has seemingly always been on the table, so it's likely the creative team went through at least a dozen different stories over the past decade before landing on the one that has become Double Tap.

Are you disappointed Dan Aykroyd doesn't have a role in Zombieland: Double Tap? What other cameos would you like to see in the sequel instead? Let us know in the comments!

Zombieland: Double Tap is now playing in theaters.