Just as we were all getting excited about the idea of a female Ghostbusters 3 starring Kristen Wiig, Dan Ackroyd has thrown a spanner in the works.

The veteran funnyman, who took one of the lead roles in the first two movies, sounds more confident than ever that the long-awaited threequel will be made - saying he's "100 per cent sure" it'll get a release within two years.

And he has apparently backed British hunk Jason Statham for a role in the project, throwing a question mark over the idea of a female team.

He told London Live: "There is so much talent coming out of the UK but I would love to see Jason Statham as a Ghostbuster in some capacity. He's a lot of fun."

And on the subject of the film's current status, he said: "I think the attitude now is right, it's just taken a while to get here. We're 100 per cent assured that there will be another movie within the next two years."

On talk of filming the new project in London, he said: "I think that that's a big part of what we would think about in the future, that it's an international thing. It would be rich to do something here in the UK because there're so many possibilities.

"There are so many great locations here and... in fact true spirits here that are living right now amongst us."