While director Harold Ramis envisioned the story to be more in line with his other feature efforts like Caddyshack and National Lampoon’s Vacation, star Bill Murray had a much greater appreciation for the more philosophical elements of the narrative and pushed for their inclusion.
As alluded to – and covered in Variety’s piece – Groundhog Day was a movie that went through a lot of revisions during its development, mostly because of clashes regarding tone.
By the end of production, the experience created a deep rift between Murray and Ramis and the two men didn’t speak for nearly 20 years.
Thankfully, they managed to patch things up before Ramis passed away in 2014.