The lengthy saga of Bill Murray's up and down involvement with Ghostbusters 3 has, for now, come to an end. Dan Aykroyd confirmed in a recent interview that the comedic actor has bowed out once and for all. Here's what he had to say, when asked if Bill Murray will be a part of the sequel.

"No, I can tell you he won't be involved. It's sad but we're passing it on to a new generation. Ghostbusters 3 can be a successful movie without Bill. My preference would be to have him involved but at this point he doesn't seem to be coming and we have to move on. It's time to make the third one."

We reported in December that Bill Murray reportedly hated the script by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (Year One, Bad Teacher). Then, in February, it was confirmed that the actor would not be involved... until Bill Murray revealed in April that, "It's a possibility" that he returns. Dan Aykroyd also confirmed that the sequel will feature a young crop of Ghostbusters.

"Yes, we've got a brilliant new writer on it and we'll be passing the torch on to a new generation. We're working on it to make it just right to satisfy our fans. I'm confident we'll be in production in the next year. Now we've got the studio on side. We've tried a few concepts which weren't right but now we've got a good structure and will make it happen."

We reported last month that Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) is writing the screenplay, although it isn't known if Ivan Reitman will be back to direct.