Bill Murray’s Bowling Ball From ‘Kingpin’ Can Now Be Yours
The “red rose” ball was used by Ernie McCracken to win a million-dollar tournament in the classic 1996 bowling comedy.
Ernie McCracken’s million-dollar bowling ball can be yours for under $40,000.
The gaudy “red rose” ball with which Bill Murray’s unscrupulous Ernie McCracken hits a turkey at the climax of Kingpin to win a million-dollar tournament is currently being sold by Heritage Auctions, as Robb Report points out.
The cuts during the scene in question may lead viewers to believe that the magic of editing was at play. But according to the company, Murray hit three consecutive strikes for real, surprising director Bobby Farrelly and eliciting genuine roars of applause from the set’s live audience. The ball weighs in at 14.5 pounds and “exhibits scuffing and light chips from production use.”
The item was consigned to Heritage Auctions after Woody Harrelson, who stars as the movie’s downtrodden hero Roy Munson opposite Murray, donated a trio of balls used by him, Murray and Randy Quaid in the classic 1996 bowling comedy to Reno’s Planet Hollywood upon the restaurant’s grand opening in 1996.
The current bid is $37,000, and according to Heritage Auctions executive vice president Joe Maddalena, that figure has already far surpassed expectations.
“It’s the sheer power of nostalgia,” he tells Robb Report. “Kingpin is a beloved movie, Bill Murray is Bill Murray—and then some in the movie—and the ball comes from a moment we all remember.”
The ball is one of 1,607 other 90s movie nostalgia-inspiring lots on offer at Heritage Auctions’ Treasures from Planet Hollywood sale. Among the most popular items is the Barbasol shaving cream can-turned-dinosaur embryo smuggling device from 1993’s Jurassic Park, which had reached a $25,000 bid at the time of publication.
The door frame debris on which Kate Winselt’s Rose DeWitt Bukater floats during her final moments with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson in 1997’s Titanic has reached a bid of $40,000, while the custom Harley-Davidson FXR “Grace” motorcycle stolen by Bruce Willis’ Butch Coolidge in 1994’s Pulp Fiction is sitting at $10,000.
Visit Heritage Auctions’ website to browse all of the movie memorabilia featured in its Planet Hollywood sale.