Bill Murray famously doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. (Except for Garfield. And get sued by The Doobie Brothers.) The story is if you want him, you leave a message on his voicemail, which he rarely checks. He’s even said he’s missed out on projects he would have enjoyed. That could be one reason he’s completely avoided the main gig in town, which is to say comic book movies. But that may change — maybe.
As per Variety, the legendary actor, promoting his role in Wes Andersons’ new The French Dispatch, recently did an interview with the German-language outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (or FAZ). They asked him about his penchant for working with the same directors over and over: Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Jim Jarmusch. And while answering, he seemed to drop a big secret.
“You know, recently I made a Marvel movie,” he said, then caught himself. “I probably won’t tell you, but never mind.” (FYI: The interview was translated by Google from the original German.)
What was the Marvel movie? He demurred. “In any case, some people were quite surprised why I decided on such a project,” Murray said. “But for me the thing was quite clear: I got to know the director — and really liked him very much. He was funny, humble, everything you want from a director.”
Murray didn’t name the director by name, but he did say he made “the cheerleader story, Bring It On,” which he said was “damn good.” That director, of course, is Peyton Reed, who went on to take over for Ant-Man last minute from departing filmmaker Edgar Wright. Reed has stayed with that wing of the franchise, and has its threequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, on the docket.
That film brings back stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, as well as supporting players Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer, with Jonathan Majors tapped as the villain. Who will Murray play? Is he actually playing anything? Marvel has yet to confirm one way or the other.
Murray had one more thing to say, though. While he agreed to do the film for a director whose work he admired, he added, “I’m not interested in these huge comic book adaptations as an actor otherwise.”
Anyway, stay tuned!
(Via Variety)