How long Bill Murray’s Phil Connors was trapped reliving Groundhog Day

Published Feb. 2, 2026 — With Punxsutawney Phil declaring six more weeks of winter, fans and internet sleuths have revisited Groundhog Day to estimate how long Bill Murray’s weather reporter Phil Connors was forced to relive the same day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The film itself shows only 38 distinct days, but its plot follows Phil becoming stuck after a massive blizzard, sinking into despair (including multiple suicide attempts), then slowly transforming into a kinder, more skilled version of himself before finally moving on to the next day.

Estimates vary. Harold Ramis’s original script reportedly said about 10,000 years, a number he later trimmed to 10 years; Ramis himself later suggested a span of 30 to 40 years. Fan calculations, including a WhatCulture estimate posted via Reddit, put the total at 12,403 days — about 33 years and 350 days — while other attempts, like one from Wolf Gnards, gave a shorter figure of roughly 8 years and 8 months.

Those longer estimates are often justified by the range of abilities Phil displays — becoming an expert pianist, ice sculptor, French speaker, rescuing animals and ingratiating himself with locals — which would plausibly require many years of repetition and practice. The prevailing wisdom cited by superfans suggests Phil woke to Sonny & Cher’s "I Got You Babe" more than 12,000 times over roughly 33–34 years.

Exactly how long Phil remained in the loop remains impossible to know for certain.

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