In the 1988 Christmas film Scrooged, Bill Murray plays television executive Frank Cross. The movie is a contemporary and darkly comic adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, with Cross serving as its modern version of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Frank runs a television network and treats Christmas as a ratings opportunity. His cynical behavior toward employees, his former love Claire, and his brother's family sets up the supernatural visitation structure. Three spirits then force him to confront memories of his past, the harm he causes in the present, and the lonely future that awaits if he refuses to change.
Richard Donner directed Scrooged, and the supporting cast includes Karen Allen as Claire, Bobcat Goldthwait as Eliot Loudermilk, and David Johansen as the Ghost of Christmas Past. The film uses television production as its main workplace setting, including Frank's attempt to mount a live version of A Christmas Carol. Unlike many gentler adaptations, it emphasizes corporate exploitation, aggressive advertising, and uncomfortable comic imagery while retaining Dickens's redemption arc.