According to a report from Puck, despite attempts by director Aziz Ansari to revive it, “Being Mortal” will finally not be completed. The film was set to star Bill Murray, Keke Palmer, and Seth Rogen.
Production on Ansari’s “Being Mortal” began on March 28th in Los Angeles. Then three weeks later, on April 20th, the shoot was derailed when Searchlight received a complaint from an actress complaining about “inappropriate behavior” on the part of Murray.
The inappropriate behavior and subsequent complaint had to do with a joke Murray performed on a crew member. It was a bizarre thing for Searchlight to just shut everything down over a failed joked, especially after Murray apologized, but it seems that they wanted nothing to do with this movie after that.
Production on the film, which was halfway done, shut down and never started back again. There was word that Ansari’s agents were shopping the film around at the Cannes market, but to no avail. It turned out, Searchlight didn’t want to touch it anymore.
Co-star Keke Palmer even posted a cryptic Instagram rant in what basically amounted to criticizing Murray’s “unprofessional behaviour”: A real shame.
Now the film will never be finished and just become a part of Hollywood lore. Murray has always been a very brusque and politically incorrect figure, which is why his brand of comedy worked for decades.
Was Murray’s behavior that repugnant that there couldn’t just be a cast and crew meeting to settle their differences? It’s so idiotic. Just tell everyone to be a professional, put a lid on the bad blood, put in a happy face and finish goddamn the movie.
I’m just wondering if the crew and other production staff got their full compensation. You have to feel for them.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.