Making unofficial sequels to movies and bringing back fan-favorite characters from classic movies has become a new go-to for commercials hoping to capture the public’s attention. Just last year Jeff Bridges reprised his role of The Dude for a Super Bowl commercial, and ET star Henry Thomas reunited with the titular alien in a commercial that aired on Thanksgiving. Now another one of these has seemingly been revealed as a new report has revealed Groundhog Day star Bill Murray could be reprising his role from the 1993 comedy.
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The Northwest Herald, a daily newspaper covering the northern suburbs of Chicago where the original movie was filmed, brings word of this development. Actor Bill Murray was spotted on location in the Woodstock Square Historic District reprising his role for what will go on to become a Jeep commercial. Other actors from the original Groundhog Day were spotted including Brian Doyle-Murray and Stephen Tobolowsky. Murray himself posted a photo of him on location for the new commercial and in his iconic outfit from the original film on Instagram which you can find below.
Though Jeep wouldn’t confirm when this new commercial would air, it’s almost assured that it will debut during the Super Bowl. Ample evidence is stacked in favor of this outcome for two major reasons: celebrity cameos in ads and “sequel” like commercials have permeated the Super Bowl in years past but most importantly the Super Bowl will take place on Sunday, February 2, which happens to be Groundhog Day this year.
Other commercials for Sunday’s Super Bowl will include Pringles (featuring Rick and Morty), Doritos (featuring Sam Elliot), Cheetos (with MC Hammer), Hyundai (with Chris Evans), and Michelob ULTRA (with WWE Champion John Cena and The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon).
Though fans have come to expect new movie trailers and TV spots during the Super Bowl every year, it was revealed earlier today that both Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures are choosing to skip the whole event in order to save money, opting instead to release trailers for their bigger tentpoles at other times. Disney, Universal, and Paramount are all expected to advertise during the pregame programming, with the latter focusing heavily on Top Gun: Maverick. Universal will likely advertise Fast & Furious 9 and Minions: The Rise of Gru at some point during the telecast.
