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BERLIN – Bill Murray provided a bit of levity for foreign buyers in Berlin on Friday, confessing that he’s basically a “very lazy person” who doesn’t like to leave his house and work. However, when he does, he works hard.
Take the Berlin Film Festival, where Murray is on hand for the premiere for two of his films, Wes Anderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel and George Clooney‘s World War II comedy-drama The Monuments Men. He is also here to tout his upcoming music-filled comedy Rock the Kasbah, from director Barry Levinson.
STORY: Berlin: Wes Anderson Reveals His Inspirations for ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’
Murray was flanked by Levinson at a buyer’s brunch for Rock the Kasbah that was arranged by QED International, which is selling the film overseas. (QED CEO Bill Block set a humorous tone by asking buyers, “are you ready for the Murray-cane?”)
Murray, who quickly won over the crowd, didn’t disappoint as he riffed on his fellow Rock the Kasbah castmembers, including Bruce Willis, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride and Shia Labeouf, who joined the project last week. From a script by Mitch Glazer, the movie will star Murray as Richie Vance, a has-been rock manager who takes his last remaining client on a USO tour of Afghanistan where he befriends a young Afghan singer. Levinson begins shooting this summer in Morocco.
STORY: Berlin: Shia LaBeouf Not Retiring After All, Joins ‘Rock the Kasbah’
“Shia LaBeouf, I don’t know. He’s got a funny name. That’s his problem … and cross to bear. It’s like ‘A Boy Named Sue,’ ” Murray said. “He probably got beat up a lot.”
Murray said Willis, whom he starred with in Anderson’s last film, Moonrise Kingdom, is “incredibly generous.
“He shows up and has bottles of wine with him,” he explained.
The actor finished by summarizing his Berlin duties. “I have to leave now and go to a hotel and answer questions about what it was like working with Wes Anderson. Tomorrow, I have to go to another hotel to answer questions about working with George Clooney. Answer those questions 700 times and see how you handle it, and see if you’re not drinking at the end of the day,” he said.
Brian Grazer and Tom Freston are executive producing Kasbah, with Block producing alongside Glazer, Venture Forth’s Jacob Pechenik and Shangri-La Entertainment’s Steve Bing. On Thursday night, Open Road Films scooped up U.S. rights.
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