Hey wait, didn’t this wrap already? With lensing taking place this fall on Terry Gilliam‘s “The Zero Theorem,” and the movie in post-production, you might think it’s a matter of putting completed pieces together now, but it seems there are still a couple of things to finish up. The movie has already been operating with a bit of mystery around it, and now here comes another piece of puzzle: it seems there is a role up for grabs and Gilliam wants Bill Murray for it.
The news comes courtesy of The Sunday Times who mention this potential pairing quite casually in a profile on the actor. Here’s the excerpt from the story: He’s also being courted for a role in Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem, but isn’t sure he will have the time (read: inclination) to do it. “Terry’s a fun guy to hang out with,” he says. “His stuff doesn’t always work for me, but it’s not for lack of trying. He really throws it out there.”
To be certain, it would theoretically be easy for Murray to knock out what we can only imagine is a small part. He’s already overseas working on Wes Anderson‘s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” and Bleeding Cool surmises that perhaps it’s just a voice role, as the low budget movie probably doesn’t the finances in place to accommodate shooting whole new scenes (and we’d reckon the sets like the one pictured above have likely been taken down already).
So…maybe? Murray tends to do what Murray feels like doing at any given moment, and is notorious for being hard to pin down until the last minute (filmmakers for “Hyde Park On Hudson” weren’t 100% sure he’d be in the movie until he actually showed up on set). Whatever his feelings on Gilliam’s work, Murray would be in good company, joining Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, David Thewlis, Melanie Thierry, Ben Whishaw and Matt Damon.
As for what his role would be, your guess is as good as ours. The plot itself is already pretty straightforward, with the futuristic story centering on a computer hacker’s goal to discover the reason for human existence only to find his work interrupted thanks to the Management who send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
No release date yet for this one, but Murray or not, we presume the film will make an appearance by the end of the year, even if it’s just at a festival.