Bill Murray
reveals his regret at turning down a movie with Clint Eastwood
. Murray still regularly appears in comedies and independent dramas, but he will be best known to many audiences for a variety of roles in the ’80s and ’90s. The former SNL cast member starred in movies like Caddyshack (1980), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), and Groundhog Day (1993). Despite his long and impressive resume, Murray has never collaborated with Eastwood, who got his start as an actor in the ’50s and ’60s before becoming equally well known for his directing work.
During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Murray reveals that he once came close to working with Eastwood on a movie. The actor recalls being impressed by the supporting characters in many of Eastwood’s earlier movies, many of whom would get a great death scene before Eastwood’s character would avenge them.
The two Hollywood legends got in touch and toyed with the idea of making a Navy comedy akin to Stripes, but Murray reveals he got cold feet after worrying about being pigeonholed as an actor. Murray says that he still regrets the decision today. Check out his full comment below:
“A long time ago, I was watching the Clint Eastwood movies of the day, like ‘Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,’ or whatever the hell those movies he was making then. And I thought, ‘His sidekick gets killed and he avenges [them] but the sidekick gets a great part, a great death scene.’ I was like, ‘I’ve got to call this guy.’
So I called him out of the blue and he said, ‘Would you ever want to do another service comedy?’ Because I just made ‘Stripes.’ And he had this great idea for an enormous Navy thing, and when he said, ‘would you ever want to do another service comedy?’ like, geez, ‘Would I become like [comedy duo] Abbott and Costello?’ I had to do military movies?’
And I said, ‘Well, God, I guess maybe I shouldn’t.’ But it’s one of the few regrets I have is that I didn’t do it, because it was a big-scale thing, and I would have gotten a great…I don’t know if I’d have gotten a great death scene, it was more of a comedy, that one, but it was… He had access to World War II boats and he could have like made a flotilla and stuff, and there was some cool stuff in it.”
“And when I see him, I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I wish I’d done that, Clint, I’m really sorry.’ He’s certainly well over it.”
What This Means For Bill Murray & Clint Eastwood
The 1980s Was The Ideal Decade For Them To Work Together
Murray and Eastwood were making very different kinds of movies in the ’80s. While Murray stuck mostly to comedy, Eastwood was starring in and directing more serious movies like Sudden Impact (1983), Pale Rider (1985), and Heartbreak Ridge (1986). Both figures obviously continued to achieve success on their own in their respective niches, and they have continued to work independently. Murray recently appeared in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), while Eastwood just released Juror #2 (2024), which may be his last movie.
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Even if Eastwood, who is 94, hasn’t officially hung up his hat just yet, it’s far too late for the Navy comedy that Murray describes to come to fruition. Given how Hollywood has evolved, the 1980s was probably the ideal decade for this type of film. Comedy movies were once sure-fire theatrical bets, but comedies live on streaming services now, and they don’t typically get large budgets. Plus, neither Murray nor Eastwood are the audience draws they were 40 years ago.
Stripes was a box office success, grossing $85 million worldwide on a $10 million budget.
Our Take On Murray & Eastwood’s Failed Collaboration
The Navy Comedy Could Have Been Something Unique
Eastwood is not an actor or director known for his comedy chops, which would have made his Navy movie with Murray a real outlier in his filmography. Murray’s involvement suggests it likely would have been very funny, while Eastwood clearly had some impressive resources on his end in terms of making a war movie. Combining both Murray and Eastwood’s strengths could have resulted in something truly special, and it’s hard not to be disappointed that this project never ended up happening.
Tropic Thunder (2008) ended up making quite a splash in the mid-2000s, but the military comedy is a sub-genre that is effectively dead now. The audience for these types of films is too small and the budgets too big. It’s disappointing that Murray and Eastwood will probably never work together, but the actor’s comment above suggests, at the very least, that the two remain friendly.
Source: The Howard Stern Show