Bill Murray Was Once In Talks To Play The Dark Knight In Ivan Reitman's Batman Movie

Bill Murray was once lined-up to play Batman.

The 71-year-old comedy legend was touted to play the superhero in the '80s when director Ivan Reitman wanted either him or Eddie Murphy to star in the movie before the idea was eventually shelved.

Speaking on Yahoo's Never-Weres video series, Murray said: "I talked to Eddie Murphy about it, and Eddie wanted to play Batman. That’s as far as that conversation went."

The Ghostbusters star also rejected the idea of playing Robin the Boy Wonder, admitting the offer arrived "too late" in his career.

He said: "I don’t wanna be the Boy Wonder to anybody. Maybe much earlier when I was a boy. But it was too late for that by the 80s."

Murray joked that he and Murphy both suited Batman's signature colours. On the other hand, he feared looking like "one of Santa's elves" in Robin's red and green costume.

He quipped: "I couldn’t do the outfit. Eddie looks good in purple, and I look good in purple. In red and green, I look like one of Santa’s elves!"

Murray subsequently claimed that the project was always doomed to fail because there was "a lot of vanity" surrounding it.

He said: "There was just a lot of vanity involved in the production. It wasn’t gonna happen!"

By contrast, Murray previously revealed that he enjoys the "shared humanity" of working with Wes Anderson.

The duo have worked together on numerous movies over the years, including The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Royal Tenenbaums, and Murray admits to loving the experience of collaborating with the acclaimed filmmaker.

He explained to the I newspaper: "I keep coming back to the shared humanity of it.

"If we can live together, we can work together. If we’re living together as humans, politely, with consideration, then [in] your acting … there is going to be more magnetism, there’s going to be more exchange of emotion and intelligence." — BANG SHOWBIZ

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos