How long was Bill Murray stuck on Feb. 2 anyway?

August 21st, 2009 at 09:53am Will Pfeifer

In GROUNDHOG DAY (one of the best movies of the 1990s, incidentally), snarky weather man Phil Connor (Bill Murray) learns to be a better person after reliving the same exact day over and over (and over and over) again. The question remains, though — just how long was poor Phil stuck in the 24 hours of Groundhog Day?

It turns out there’s a bit of a debate. Harold Ramis, who wrote and directed the movie, says in this e-mail to Heeb Magazine’s Web site that he spent at least a few decades on that single day:

 ”I think the 10-year estimate is too short. It takes at least 10 years to get good at anything, and, alloting for the down time and misguided years he spent, it had to be more like 30 or 40 years… People [i.e. spaz] have way too much time on their hands. They could be learning to play the piano or speak French or sculpt ice”

Turns out Ramis is responding to this guy, who claims it was eight years, eight months and 16 days. And he has the math to prove it! (Check out his site for the extremely detailed explanation of the graphic below.)

Supposedly, the original version of the script had Murray stuck on the same day for the equivalent of 10,000 years. Personally, I like that idea. It fits more into the philosophical theme of the film — that to become a better person, it might take a very, very long time.

Entry Filed under: Controversy, Comedy