Groundhog Day

Post-release

Aftermath

Author Richard A. Lupoff threatened legal action against the filmmakers, alleging that they had copied his own time loop-based story "12:01 P.M."

Despite its relative success, a sequel was ruled out by November 1993.[102] Groundhog Day was one of the films credited with helping to reverse Columbia's failures at the box office, alongside the 1992 films Bram Stoker's Dracula, A Few Good Men and A League of Their Own.[103] Shortly after its release, author Richard A. Lupoff threatened legal action against the filmmakers, alleging the film copied his short story "12:01 P.M." and its associated 1990 short film adaptation about a man stuck in a time loop. The case was never formally filed as the film's production company refused to support legal action.[6][104] Similarly, author Leon Arden attempted legal action, claiming the film plagiarized his novel One Fine Day, which he had unsuccessfully pitched as a script to Columbia Pictures, about a man repeating April 15. The judge ruled against Arden.[104][105]

Murray initially hated the finished Groundhog Day.[51] In a 1993 interview, he said that he wanted to focus on the comedy and the underlying theme of people repeating their lives out of fear of change. Ramis wanted to focus on the redeeming power of love. Even so, Murray agreed that Ramis had ultimately been right to do so.[43] The film marked the end of Ramis and Murray's nearly 20-year long partnership that among other things, had created films like Caddyshack, Stripes (1981), and Ghostbusters. After filming concluded, Murray stopped speaking to Ramis. He never contacted Ramis, and refused to speak about him in interviews.[11] Ramis openly spoke about Murray, both criticizing him and discussing his dreams where the pair were once again friends.[18][51] Some of their close acquaintances, including producer Michael Shamberg, speculated that Murray had grown disillusioned with the assumption that his best work only came in collaboration with Ramis, or that Ramis was responsible for Murray's public persona.[11][18] Ramis said that he could make Murray as funny as possible, and in return, Murray's improvisational skills could save even the most lackluster of scripts.[18]

Murray felt that Groundhog Day had given him an opportunity to showcase a different side of himself. He admitted that he was bothered by his perception that his previous films focused on jokes without offering a deeper subtext. Even so, he said that he had found solace in meeting the people entertained by his work.[43] Ramis believed that Murray's dramatic turns in films like Lost in Translation (2003) revealed more about Murray than anything else. Speaking in 2009, Ramis said that he thought Murray had grown tired of being the manic, energetic person carrying a film, and wanted to explore his potential.[106] Ramis reached out to Murray to cast him in his 2005 black comedy The Ice Harvest. Murray's brother Brian declined on his behalf. When Ramis enquired further, Brian said that Murray never discussed Ramis. Except for a few brief exchanges at public events, the pair did not speak for nearly two decades.[11] They reunited only in the final few months of Ramis's life in 2014.[7][107] Rubin said that Murray and his brother now speak fondly of Ramis.[7]

Rubin was in high demand as a screenwriter but retained his desire to tell original stories and refused to tell a traditional Hollywood narrative arc, as he found defying the expected premise and structure the most interesting part. This was not acceptable to studios looking for him to simply put his spin on a conventional story. Eventually, the offers stopped coming. He continued to write scripts, but none progressed. In a 2017 interview, Rubin admitted some regret that Groundhog Day remained his biggest success.[6]

Home media and rereleases

Groundhog Day was released on VHS in early September 1993. It debuted at number 11 on the VHS rental chart, rising to number 1 by the end of September, replacing Falling Down.[108][109][110] It remained the number 1 rental until mid-October when it was knocked off the top spot by Point of No Return at number 2 and Aladdin at number 1.[111][112] It was considered the most successful comedy release of late 1993.[113]

The film was released on DVD in 1998.[114] The 2002 "Special Edition" DVD included the film's trailers, an audio commentary by Ramis, and The Weight of Time—a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the film, featuring cast and crew interviews.[115][116] Murray did not participate.[117] A 15th-anniversary edition DVD was released in January 2008.[118] The film was digitally remastered under Ramis's supervision. This set included Ramis' audio commentary and The Weight of Time, and added an interview with Ramis, a short documentary on groundhogs, and deleted scenes.[116][117][119] This version was later released on Blu-ray disc in 2009, with an additional picture-in-picture feature with Tobolowsky reprising his role as Ned to provide facts about the film.[120]

To celebrate the film's 25th anniversary in February 2018, a remastered 4k resolution version of the film was released in select theaters.[121] In April 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented a special one-night screening of the remastered film at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.[122] The remastered version was also released as an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc, Blu-ray disc, and a digital download. It included the same extras as the 15th-anniversary edition.[116]

To celebrate the film's 30th anniversary, the film was released in select theaters for two days in February 2023, with one of those days being February 2, Groundhog Day.[123]


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