Harold Ramis says he’s glad he passed on directing ‘Super Mario Bros.’ movie

Ramis glad he passed on ‘Super Mario Bros.’ film

WASHINGTON — Harold Ramis has directed some of the most popular comedies of the past 30 years, including “Caddyshack,” ”Groundhog Day” and “Analyze This.” But his smartest career decision may have been rejecting one high-profile job.

“(Producer) Roland Joffe wanted me to direct the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ movie,” Ramis says. “I took the meeting because I loved the game.”

Ramis passed, and the live-action “Mario” feature became one of the most notorious flops in Hollywood history. “I’m glad I said no,” Ramis laughs.

The opportunity to turn one of his film roles — Dr. Egon Spengler of “Ghostbusters” — into a video-game character was more inviting.

“Twenty-five years later, people still embrace the franchise mythology,” Ramis says. “The game’s designers are among them.”

The developers of “Ghostbusters: The Video Game,” being published this week by Atari Inc., have reunited most of the original movie’s cast. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Ramis all recorded voiceovers for their digital doppelgangers. “There was some money involved,” Ramis jokes.

The director, whose “Year One” opens Friday, acknowledges he hasn’t played many video games since, well, “Super Mario Bros.” But he says the stars of his new movie, Jack Black and Michael Cera, “played a lot of ‘Guitar Hero’ and ‘Rock Band’ between scenes.”

And Ramis is open to future virtual versions of some of his other films.

“A ‘Stripes’ first-person shooter could be interesting,” he says.

On the Net:

www.ghostbustersgame.com/