Aykroyd, co-star Harold Ramis and director Ivan Reitman have been waiting for Murray to sign on for the sequel for over a year, but the frustrated Blues Brothers star now accepts the project will have to go ahead without him.
He tells The Telegraph, “It’s a surety that Bill Murray will not do the movie.”
He adds, “The studio, the director Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis feel there must be a way to do it, but Bill Murray will not do the movie. He doesn’t want to be involved. He’s got six kids, houses all over America. He golfs in these tournaments where they pay him to turn up and have a laugh. He’s into this life and living it.
“I know we’d have a lot of fun but I can’t be mad at him. He’s a friend first, a colleague second. We have a deep personal relationship that transcends business and he doesn’t want to know.”
