A Highly Anticipated Bill Murray Film Has Been Canceled
Bill Murray is a man of many talents, and that is always demonstrated in every role that he gets, but now one of his most anticipated comedies has been canceled.
Sometimes film productions can be halted, canceled, or suspended with little notice. This has been the case for many television shows and films in recent years due to stringent covid restrictions. The health and safety of the crew are always at the height of any production. However, sometimes issues stemming from unnamed sources can occur, and that is what has happened with a highly anticipated Bill Murray movie. Famed comedian, Aziz Ansari, was meant to make his directorial debut with a film called, Being Mortal, but now the picture has been suspended by Searchlight Pictures.
Reports from Deadline claim that the suspension was due to a complaint. However, that complaint was not on Aziz Ansari or has anything to do with covid restrictions. Reports also indicated that Ansari was “working tirelessly” with producer, Youree Henley, to correct this complaint and keep the production going. However, it has been shut down. A letter was sent to the cast and crew from Searchlight Pictures stating that they looked into the circumstances of this complaint and decided to halt the production for the time being. This could mean that Being Mortal is only on a temporary hiatus, but stopping a production never looks good, especially when canceling on Bill Murray.
Being Mortal is a comedy that was meant to star Aziz Ansari, Bill Murray, and Seth Rogen. The film was based on a nonfiction book by Atul Gawande, called Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Principal photography began at the end of March and was halfway through its scheduled production before being stopped. The film was supposed to release in 2023, and now there is no timetable if the film will get up and running again. Searchlight Pictures alerted the cast and crew through the mass letter that they will inform them if anything changes for the production. This is sad news considering the high level of talent this film was going to employ. Murray, Ansari, and Rogen are all top-level comedic actors. The letter also stated that Searchlight is continuing to work with Ansari and Henley to ensure that the production can still happen at some point. There have been no reports yet on what complaint was filed that has put an end to this production.
Bill Murray has an already busy schedule, as he is set to star in the Wes Anderson film, Asteroid City. He has also been added to the Ant-Man & Wasp: Quantumania film in a secret role. Being Mortal would have been the fan-favorite actor’s next film, but now it has been placed on an indefinite suspension. Murray will also lend his voice to a film called Bum’s Rush, where he plays the dog of Anne Hathaway’s character. Hopefully, production on Being Mortal can start up again soon, or Murray and Rogen might become a bit too busy to work around when the film can start up again. Rogen has his hands full with a new reboot of Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, and he is set to appear as Donkey Kong in the new Super Mario Bros animated movie. The hope is now this anticipated comedy can return to production sooner rather than later.
