Kristen Wiig and Bill Murray Starring in ‘Epiphany’

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(Left) Bill Murray in ‘Lost in Translation’. Photo: Focus Features. (Right) Kristen Wiig in ‘Wonder Woman 1984’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Preview:

Kristen Wiig and Bill Murray are aboard new comedy ‘Epiphany.’
‘Palm Springs’ director Max Barbakow is overseeing the movie.
Mitch Glazer wrote the script.

Do you see Kristen Wiig and Bill Murray as a couple? While it certain seems unlikely on paper, it’s hardly the first time that Hollywood has tried to put together people of differing ages.

And in the case of new comedy movie ‘Epiphany,’ the unlikeliness of the union is both being leaned into and mined for laughs.

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Favorite Ives, an heiress and fashionista whose fortune evaporates overnight, embarks on a two-week search for a rich husband in a bid to fight creditors and keep… Read the Plot

According to Variety, ‘Saturday Night Live’ veterans (albeit of very different eras) Kristen Wiig and Bill Murray have already worked on the movie, which was directed by Max Barbakow, who rose to prominence with the excellent Andy Samberg/Cristin Milioti time-loop comedy ‘Palm Springs’ and more recently made Josh Brolin/Peter Dinklage sibling comedy ‘Brothers.’

Unlike his previous movies which he at least co-wrote, ‘Epiphany,’ which is now in the post-production stage, comes from a script by Mitch Glazer.

That name should ring bells to anyone with a passing knowledge of Murray’s filmography, since Glazer met the actor years ago during Murray’s ‘SNL’ days, and the two became close friends while working on ‘Scrooged,’ which Glazer wrote with Murray starring.

Since then they’ve worked together off and on –– Glazer produced ‘Lost in Translation’ and wrote 2015 comedy ‘Rock the Kasbah’ for the actor.

What’s the story of ‘Epiphany’?

(L to R) Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards, airing live from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, January 7, 2024, at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

‘Epiphany’ follows Favorite Ives (Wiig), an heiress and fashionista who has blown through her entire fortune and is forced to take up a challenge: marry a rich husband in two weeks or lose everything and end up on the street.

Her desperate search for a big-money mark slams her into eccentric math savant and billionaire Oz Bell (Murray). Favorite needs Oz’s money and Oz craves Favorite’s spirit and spontaneity. Can this unlikely couple find something more?

‘Epiphany’: The Director Speaks

Andy Samberg in ‘Palm Springs’. Photo: Hulu / Neon.

In a statement carried by Variety, Barbakow had this to say about working on the movie:

“It’s a rare, delightful experience when a story takes you on a journey that all at once manages to make you laugh, make you feel, and hold a mirror up to the wonderful absurdities of everyday life. It’s even more delightful when your spirit guides are Bill Murray and Kristen Wiig. But ‘Epiphany’ carries that breadth of tone, depth of wisdom, and such a lush sense of cinematic possibility, all while teeing up iconic roles for two already-iconic, totally original unicorns in Kristen and Billy.”

What else is Kristen Wiig working on?

(L to R) Kristen Wiig and Josh Lucas in ‘Palm Royale,’ now streaming on Apple TV+.

Wiig had a couple of roles last year –– she reprised her voice performance as Lucy in ‘ Despicable Me 4’ and appeared as herself (while writing and performing the theme song) in documentary ‘Will & Harper.’

She also had the lead in Apple TV+ comedy drama ‘Palm Royale,’ about a woman desperately trying to gain admittance and social standing in a snooty Miami club in the late 1960s. A second season of the show is in the works and should be on screens this year. On top of that, she reprised another animated role, that of anthropomorphic hot dog bun Brenda in ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ on Prime Video.

There are also a few projects on her To Do list, including a remake of German comedy drama ‘Toni Erdmann’ and a movie written with her ‘Bridesmaids’ collaborator Annie Mumolo that focuses on Cinderella’s evil stepsisters.

Where else will we see Bill Murray?

(L to R) Winston (Ernie Hudson) and Peter (Bill Murray) in Columbia Pictures’ 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.' Photo By Jaap Buitendijk. © 2023 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Murray is harder to pin down since he prefers to only work when he feels like it. Though he’s been fairly consistent, despite lingering accusations of inappropriate behavior on set, which got Aziz Ansari’s ‘Being Mortal’ thrown into shutdown limbo.

He works most usually for director Wes Anderson and is once more part of the cast for the director’s next film, ‘The Phoenician Scheme,’ which will be in theaters on June 6th.

Last year, Murray was seen in the likes of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ (once more playing the role of Peter Venkman), ‘The Friend’ opposite Naomi Watts in the story of a woman who adopts a Great Dane that belonged to her late mentor and ‘Riff Raff,’ which sees a former criminal’s life turned upside down when his family shows up for a reunion.

Oh, and he was the focus of a Super Bowl commercial for Yahoo this month, where he encouraged fans to email him.

When will ‘Epiphany’ be in theaters?

So far, the movie doesn’t have a distribution home in the States or overseas –– the rights will be for sale at the European Film Market in Berlin this week –– so any talk of a release date is, at this stage, premature.

With the movie already shot, the appeal of both the leads and Barbakow as director should help drive interest.

(L to R) Cath (Glenn Close), Moke (Josh Brolin), and Jady (Peter Dinklage) in ‘Brothers’. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC.