Groundhog Day is a 1993 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Harold Ramis from a screenplay by him and Danny Rubin. Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott, it tells the story of a cynical television weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes trapped in a time loop, forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly. The film also features Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marita Geraghty, Angela Paton, Rick Ducommun, Rick Overton, and Robin Duke in supporting roles.
Rubin conceived the outline of Groundhog Day in the early 1990s. He wrote it as a spec script to gain meetings with producers for other work. It eventually came to the attention of Ramis, who worked with Rubin to make his idea less dark in tone and more palatable to a general audience by enhancing the comedy. After being cast, Murray clashed with Ramis over the script; Murray wanted to focus on the philosophical elements, whereas Ramis concentrated on the comedic aspects. Principal photography took place from March to June 1992, almost entirely in Woodstock, Illinois. Filming was difficult, in part because of bitterly cold weather but also because of the ongoing conflict between Ramis and Murray.
Groundhog Day was considered a box-office success on its release, earning over $105 million to become one of the highest-grossing films of 1993. It also received generally positive reviews. Reviewers were consistent in praise for the film's successful melding of highly sentimental and deeply cynical moments, and for the philosophical message beneath the comedy. It received multiple award nominations and won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. For all its success, the film marked the end of Ramis's and Murray's long collaborative partnership, which had produced films like Caddyshack (1980) and Ghostbusters (1984). After filming ended, the pair did not speak to each other until shortly before Ramis's death in 2014. The film was a showcase for Murray; he had previously been seen primarily as a comic actor, and his performance led to more serious roles in critically acclaimed films.
In the years since its release, the film has grown in esteem; it is often considered to be among the greatest films of the 1990s and one of the greatest comedy movies ever. It has also had a significant effect on popular culture: the term Groundhog Day, meaning a monotonous, unpleasant, and repetitive situation, has become part of the English lexicon. Buddhist, Christian, and Jewish scholars have analyzed the film as a religious allegory. Groundhog Day is also credited with having ushered in mainstream acceptance of comedy films with fantasy-genre elements. In 2006, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. Groundhog Day was adapted into a 2016 musical, and inspired a 2019 video game sequel, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son.
