Bill Murray's Role In Zombieland Was Originally Much Different

Yesterday I told you that a possible sequel for Zombieland was still in the works, confirmed by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick at a Q & A that they were at.  But that wasn't the only interesting thing that they revealed about the zombie flick.  They said that Bill Murray wasn't their original choice for the role, and that when they did sign him for the movie, it had a much different take.  Here's what they had to say about the scene:

"It was a big action scene. It was all this stuff at the house, all the jokes about his career. But when he finally did show up, he just attacked the crap out of them. And he was the most devastatingly difficult zombie to destroy of all time."

I'm sorry, but I just can't picture Bill Murray as a crazed zombie attacking the crap out of everybody, especially after seeing him in the scenes that ended up in the final cut.  Reese and Wernick had sent their scripts out to different actors that they had wanted in their movie.  Their first choice had been Patrick Swayze, but due to his cancer, the actor was unavailable to work on anything, and they never even had a chance to send him a script.  Other actors that saw the screenplay didn't seem interested.  So when Bill Murray agreed to talk to them about the script, he offered up some changes to the scene, and they hashed out what we saw in the movie.  They said that they weren't sure if the other actors that read their screenplay just thought the scene was too violent, or wasn't big enough of a role.  If they had talked to the writers about the scene and let them know their concerns about the role, then we may have had a whole different cameo to watch.  Bill Murray being the amazing actor that he is, saw the script, and actually talked to the writers about his concerns, and it made the movie even better.  That is why Bill Murray is who he is...the best in the business!

Would you have liked to see a crazed zombie Bill Murray attacking everybody, or do you think that the movie turned out better the way it was released?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.  Oh, and if you haven't seen Zombieland yet, go out and buy it today.  You won't be disappointed!