Jeep’s Super Bowl ad is expected to star Bill Murray recreating scenes from “Groundhog Day.”
The actor last weekend was spotted shooting scenes for the ad in Woodstock, Illinois, the Chicago-area town where the 1993 movie was shot, according to a report in the Northwest Herald. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that the movie would indeed be the focus of the ad. Chicago-based ad agency High Dive is said to be handling the spot.
The Super Bowl just happens to fall on Groundhog Day, providing a timely backdrop for the ad.
The actor’s golf brand, WIlliam Murray Golf, posted a scene of the ad shoot on its Instagram account.
Fiat Chrysler earlier this week confirmed it would be coming back to the Super Bowl with a 60-second ad for Jeep, after sitting out last year’s game. A Jeep spokeswoman in a statement Wednesday said: “No creative details will be released in advance of it airing during the broadcast on Sunday, and we won’t comment on any speculation.”
In the movie, Murray plays a meteorologist reliving the same day over and over in Punxsutawney, Pa.
The Northwest Herald, which covers Chicago suburbs, reported extensive details about the ad shoot, including quoting a local business owner saying he spotted other actors from the film, including Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned Ryerson. The newspaper also reported that “a photo taken while the commercial was being filmed shows Murray in front of a red pickup truck that looks much like the vehicle his character drives away in when he steals a groundhog and later drives off a cliff.”
The ad shoot occurred on Saturday, according to the Herald, suggesting Jeep is putting the spot together at the last minute. Fiat Chrysler confirmed its ad buy on Wednesday morning in the wake of Fox’s decision last week to add more commercial time to accommodate big-spending brands interested in snaring ad time in the game, which Fox had previously said was sold out.