Screenwriter Harold Ramis became a creative force in Hollywood by writing comedies that could be elevated by the casting of top comedians, usually from Saturday Night Live. The screenplays for Meatballs, Animal House, Caddyshack and Stripes barely resemble the final film, some of which were reshaped in the writing and editing to give the comedians on the edges prominence over the central narrative. For their 6th film together, Harold Ramis did something different by giving Bill Murray a script he could lean on.
The original screenplay by Danny Rubin contains a lot less comedy, but it had all the great ideas of the eventual drudgery of an immortal life and the sweet romance. Ramis’ reworking into more of a comedy was initially met with resistance by Rubin, but they got to a place where Bill Murray became interested and by the time the film went into production, the screenplay’s philosophical angles had been thoroughly explored to where it was much better than anyone realized. The finished film was released in Spring 1993 as a typical Bill Murray vehicle, and gained respect over the years until it is now seen as Harold Ramis’ best film, and an argument can be made for Murray as well.
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