Editing Scrooged (section)

== Production ==
=== Development ===
[[File:Richard Donner (4505771045) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Director [[Richard Donner]] in 1979]]
''Scrooged'' was filmed on a $32 million budget<ref name="MovieFone"/> over three-and-a-half months on sets in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=32}} Exterior shots of the IBC building were filmed outside of the [[Seagram Building]] in New York City.<ref name="NewsweekDec18"/> Murray considered himself "rusty" after having left acting for four years following the release of ''[[The Razor's Edge (1984 film)|The Razor's Edge]]'' (1984).<ref name="RollingStone"/> In contrast to the success of ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' (1984) as a phenomenon that would forever be his biggest success, the failure of ''The Razor's Edge'' made him feel "radioactive" and resulting in him avoiding making movies temporarily.<ref name="CSTEbert"/>{{Sfn|Blade|1988|p=Section E, Page 1}}

Murray had the opportunity to work on ''Scrooged'' over two years earlier but was enjoying his break from work. When he did feel a desire to return to acting, he said the "scripts were just not that good", and he returned to the ''Scrooged'' project as he found the idea of making a funny Scrooge appealing.{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|pp=29,31}} Murray was paid $6 million for his role. Producer [[Art Linson]] justified the figure by saying that for each year Murray stayed away from films, his audience draw and therefore fee potentially increased. At the time, Linson said that aside from [[Eddie Murphy]], Murray's was the only other name that could draw $10 million of tickets in the opening three to four days.<ref name="NYT1988"/>

Murray wanted several changes to the script once he joined the project; among other changes, the romantic plot with Karen Allen's Claire was expanded, and the family scenes were reworked as Murray felt they were "off".{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=29}} Murray worked with scriptwriters [[Michael O'Donoghue]] and [[Mitch Glazer]] (whom Murray had previously worked with on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'') until Murray was confident enough to begin filming.{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=31}}<ref name="MentalFloss"/> O'Donoghue and Glazer found the film's denouement, in which Murray reveals his redemption live on TV, to be the most difficult to write. They settled on the example of [[Christmas Eve]] in [[New York City|New York]], where people are nice to each other for one night, believing it to be a "miracle we could live with".{{sfn|Perrin|1998|p=408}}

Murray was concerned with how he should portray the scene, with Glazer telling him to follow the script. Wanting a central acting moment, however, Murray gave an emotional and intense performance, deviating from his marked positions and improvising his speech. Glazer and O'Donoghue thought that the actor was suffering a [[Mental distress|mental breakdown]]. After he was finished, the crew applauded Murray, but O'Donoghue remarked "What was that? The [[Jim Jones]] hour?" Donner turned and punched O'Donoghue in the arm, leaving him bruised for a week.{{sfn|Perrin|1998|p=408-409}}

The production was rife with conflict between Murray and Donner. Murray described the experience as having a "fair amount of misery" and said "That's a tough one; I still have trouble talking about [''Scrooged'']",<ref name="EW1993"/> describing working on a "dusty, smelly, and smokey" set, feeling alone, and even coughing up blood due to the [[fake snow]] being used.{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=32}} He also admitted to feeling pressure from being the solo star of a film compared to previous productions like ''Ghostbusters'', as he was on set mostly every day while some actors would make brief cameos requiring only a day or two of work.{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=31}}

Donner himself said that he had never worked with Murray before and met up with him for drinks before accepting the project to see if they would get along; they did. The director was more positive about their relationship, describing Murray as "superbly creative but occasionally difficult - as difficult as any actor." Donner said that Murray was always in a professional mental state on set, believing it made him stressed, so the crew would do "silly things" to improve morale.{{Sfn|Blade|1988|p=Section E, Page 3}} Donner had not worked with an improvisational comedian like Murray before, who ad-libbed many of his lines, saying "you don't direct [Murray], you pull him back".{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=31}}<ref name="MentalFloss"/>

In a 1990 interview with [[Roger Ebert]], Murray said that ''Scrooged'' "could have been a really, really great movie. The script was so good... [Donner] kept telling me to do things louder, louder, louder. I think he was deaf."<ref name="CSTEbert"/> In a later 1993 interview, Murray said that he and Donner had different visions for the type of film ''Scrooged'' would become,<ref name="EW1993"/> adding that there was potentially only one take in the finished film that was his.<ref name="EW2014"/>

In a 1989 interview, Murray said, "He shot a big, long, sloppy movie", describing how a lot of filmed content was not present in the film's final cut.{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=29}} For his part, O'Donoghue later said that Donner did not understand comedy, omitting the script's subtler elements for louder and faster moments. He estimated that only 40% of his and Glazer's original script made it into the final film and the surviving content was "twisted".{{sfn|Perrin|1998|p=409}} The final cut of the film runs for 97 minutes.<ref name="BBFC"/>

=== Casting ===
Bill Murray said that "being the meanest person in the world" as Frank Cross was fun. He described his challenge as having an edge but then completing Cross's transformation into a decent person at the end. Murray said "being a decent person is not that hard. But acting like one is."{{Sfn|Blade|1988|p=Section E, Page 3}} Carol Kane's ghost was intended to have a body double for ballet scenes until set designer saw Kane rehearsing the dance and convinced Donner that the resulting scene would be funnier with Kane's "horrible" dancing.<ref name="AVKane"/>

Donner and Murray said that Kane would sometimes experience long crying periods during filming, caused by frustration over her violent scenes. Murray also endured some physical pain during his encounters with Kane's character, insisting that she actually hit him during their scenes together, and at one point tearing the inside of his lip when Kane pulled his lip too hard.{{Sfn|Starlog|1989|p=31}} Kane herself said "I hit Bill Murray with a toaster, and with my wings, and I kicked him in areas that weren't pleasant for him. I had fun. I don't think it was as fun for Bill, because he was the victim! I did what the stunt people told me, but when I had to flap my wings in his face, I really couldn't control them."<ref name="hollywoodlife"/>

The film also features Murray's three brothers; [[Joel Murray]] cameos as a party guest, Brian Doyle-Murray plays Frank's father, and John Murray plays his on-screen brother James.<ref name="AMCBlog"/> The film also features the final appearance of the [[Solid Gold (TV series)#The Solid Gold Dancers|Solid Gold Dancers]].<ref name="MentalFloss"/> Comedian [[Sam Kinison]] was considered for the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past before it went to musician David Johansen, a personal friend of Murray's. Robert Mitchum cameos as Frank's boss Preston Rhinelander; the actor was not interested in the small role, but Donner asked him to meet with Murray, who convinced him to take the part.<ref name="MentalFloss"/> Lee Majors cameos as himself in the film after being contacted directly by Donner. Majors appears in the opening scene helping to save Santa Claus. Majors was armed with a stripped-down [[M134 Minigun]], the same one featured in ''[[Predator (film)|Predator]]'', which he found difficult to carry due to its weight.<ref name="AVCameo"/>