Bill Murray Replaced by Steve Carell in Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’ After He Got COVID
thewrap.comFocus Features acquired the film earlier this week may have wondered why Murray’s name, who has appeared in nearly all of Anderson’s movies in some form, was conspicuously absent.
It was even Murray who first let slip that the film was in fact titled “Asteroid City.” But a source says that Murray tested positive for COVID shortly before “Asteroid City” went into production in September of last year, leading the role to be recast.
And it’s believed that Carell wound up as Murray’s replacement. Murray did not shoot any scenes for the movie prior to dropping out.
The individual adds that the reason for his exit is not connected to Murray’s incident on the Searchlight Pictures film “Being Mortal” as directed by Aziz Ansari, which went on hiatus in April after it was reported that Murray was at the root of a complaint about unspecified “inappropriate behavior.” While the nature of the inappropriate behavior was never disclosed, Murray addressed it in an interview and said that there was a “difference of opinion” in something he thought would be funny but was not taken that way. “As of now we are talking and we are trying to make peace with each other,” he said back in April. “We are both professionals, we like each others’ work, we like each other I think and if we can’t really get along and trust each other there’s no point in going further working together or making the movie as well.
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