Production on Aziz Ansari’s directorial ‘Being Mortal’ has been suspended following an allegation of “inappropriate behaviour” against veteran actor Bill Murray. Searchlight Pictures confirmed earlier the halt in production in a letter to the cast and crew, citing a “recent complaint” for their decision.
“Late last week, we were made aware of a complaint, and we immediately looked into it. After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time. We are truly grateful to all of you for everything you’ve put into this project. Our hope is to resume production and (we) are working with Aziz and (producer Youree Henley) to figure out that timing. Production will be in touch with you to share details on the wrap, and we will let you know as soon as we have more information to share,” the letter read.
The Searchlight Pictures project marks Ansari’s directorial debut. He also stars in the movie. At this point, the gravity of the allegations is not clear and we do not know if Murray will be involved in the project in future and if the film will still release in 2023 as it was scheduled.
‘Being Mortal’ is based on the acclaimed and best-selling non-fiction book titled Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by American surgeon Atul Gawande.
