With Punxsutawney Phil declaring six more weeks of winter this year, it’s only fitting to calculate how much time Bill Murray’s prickly weather reporter, Phil Connors, spent reliving the same day in perpetuity in Groundhog Day. The classic Harold Ramis comedy features one of Murray’s most effective performances, with Phil gradually trading his grumpy cynicism for charitable enlightenment as he works to become a better person and finally move on to the next day.
Although the film never explicitly states how long Phil was stuck in a repetitive cycle, reliving the same day over and over, several fans and internet sleuths have calculated the precise number of days and years he spent trying to leave Pennsylvania. With the winter weather hunkering folks on this holiday, cue up a copy of Groundhog Day and discover how long Phil was trapped in Punxsutawney.
The Original ‘Groundhog Day’ Script Posed a Shocking Length
The late, great Harold Ramis directed Groundhog Day from an outstanding screenplay he co-wrote with Danny Rubin. One of the great ’90s Bill Murray comedies, the actor plays Phil Connors, an irascible weather reporter who could not be less thrilled to cover Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania’s annual holiday event at Gobbler’s Knob, where the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicts the remaining days of winter on Groundhog Day.
Moody, cynical, and deeply insolent towards his colleagues and the kindhearted locals, Phil becomes trapped in a bizarre time loop in which he relives the same day over and over, noticing the same things happening in the precise order each day. At first, Phil tries to make sense of the confounding phenomenon, but is stuck in town due to a massive blizzard. Attempting to woo his charming colleague Rita (Andie McDowell), Phil’s boring, soul-numbing repetition turns incredibly dark, and he tries to escape the time loop by taking his own life.
The moral of the story for Phil is that he can only pass on to the next day by becoming a better person. As if ascending to heaven after living a worthy life of charitable kindness, Phil slowly alters his outlook on the fragility and ephemera of life, beginning to appeal to his better angels with genuine compassion and empathy for others.
According to Ramis, the script originally conveyed that Phil spent approximately 10,000 years reliving the same day before eventually learning his lesson. He later changed the number to a more realistic 10 years. However, math whizzes and hardcore fans of the film have made more precise calculations.
How Long Phil Actually Spent Reliving the Same Day
As Phil experiences Groundhog Day over and over, he spends plenty of time becoming active in the community and a more positive member of society. He began rescuing animals, making ornate ice sculptures, playing the piano for a holiday dance banquet, etc. His cynical views and snarky barbs were replaced by festive enthusiasm and a genuine joy for life that rubs off on those around him (and vice versa). Only 38 days are covered in the film, but the implication is that Phil spent decades experiencing déjà vu.
Phil becomes a better listener and romantic partner to Rita, and no longer insults or ignores the locals. Instead, he goes out of his way to help the townsfolk and be the absolute best version of himself. As a reward for his spiritual and philosophical shift, Phil is finally able to move on to the next day and begin life anew with Rita. However, according to WhatCulture (via Reddit), the most common estimate of Phil’s perpetual cycle in Punxsutawney is 12,403 days, which equals 33 years and 350 days (or just under 34 years).
While the formula is unclear, most agree that it would take Phil a prolonged period to become an expert pianist, ice sculptor, French speaker, and the like. Although Wolf Gnards calculated a much shorter stay of 8 years and 8 months, the consensus is that it would take much longer than that for Phil to acquire his mastery of so many skills while changing his heart and mind in the process. Even Ramis amended his projection from 10,000 years (as scripted) and estimated that Phil’s stay lasted between 30 and 40 years.
Although it’s impossible to know exactly how long Phil relived Groundhog Day, the prevailing wisdom suggests that he woke up to Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” more than 12,000 times over 33 or 34 years. Of course, the grand irony is that, despite Murray and Ramis’ rocky collaboration, Groundhog Day is timeless and holds up beautifully 33 years later.
‘Groundhog Day’ is as Timeless as Phil Connors’s Stay in PA
Despite being an undisputed comedy classic that remains durable as ever in 2026, Groundhog Day famously drove a wedge between Murray and Ramis. Much of the conflict resulted when Murray wanted to emphasize the philosophical aspects of the story, while Ramis wanted to lean into the comedy. The film shoot was difficult and unpleasant for the star and director, and the two stopped speaking for over two decades after it was released.
While that flies in the face of the movie’s uplifting message, Groundhog Day has an appreciated value as an undisputed comedy classic. In 2006, the film was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2016, the film was adapted into a stage musical, and in 2019, a video game sequel titled Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son was released.
Beyond its awarded legacy, Groundhog Day‘s function is inextricable from its message. The more one watches it, the better understanding they have of the need to connect, assist others, become a better person, and leave the world in a better place. Regardless of how long it took Phil to learn this lesson, that is the movie’s most lasting legacy.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
