‘Biggest mystery’ in cinematic history still unanswered

A 17-year-old Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray playing a faded film star embrace for one pivotal final scene. But what did he whisper?

It’s been more than 20 years since Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson joined forces for Sofia Coppola’s award-winning film Lost in Translation.

And yet, in the two decades since the movie’s release, the mystery surrounding the pivotal final scene has never been revealed. Today, it remains one of the most endearing movie mysteries of all time.

What did Murray’s character Bob Harris whisper to Johansson’s Charlotte during their final encounter? Only the co-stars, and the filmmaker herself know the answer.

In the blockbuster, widely regarded as one of the best travel movies of all time, Murray plays a faded film star who forms a fleeting, intimate bond while in Tokyo with Johansson’s character, a disillusioned young Yale graduate and newlywed.

The film was a bona fide hit, earning $US118.7 million on a $4 million budget. It received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Murray. Coppola ultimately took home the award for Best Original Screenplay.

And yet, that final whispered line seems to be what viewers still obsess over.

Over the years, film critics and movie buffs have attempted to decode the parting thoughts of Murray’s character at the end of the pair’s whirlwind stay in the Japanese capital. But the answer has never been divulged.

The most popular guess, which a YouTuber went viral for back in 2007, is: “I have to be leaving, but I won’t let that come between us, okay?”

Other stabs in the dark from cinema detectives include:

“Promise me, that the next thing you do, is go up to that man and tell him the truth.”

“I just want you to know I will never forget this okay?”

“When John [Johansson’s character’s husband] is ready for his next business trip, go up to that man and tell him the truth, okay?”

Others on Reddit have weighed in over the years, with one commenting, “It’s supposed to be ambiguous, a private moment just between the two characters.”

Another wrote: “How people hear anything but ‘tell him the truth, okay’ at the end of the phrase is bizarre.”

Yet another couch critic said: “You are supposed to decide what he whispers. I don’t believe it is scripted.”

There were plenty of jokes, too. “You’ll become Black Widow one day,” one person quipped.

Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray in 2003 hit film Lost in Translation.

Director Sofia Coppola herself weighed in on the mystery on the film’s 15th anniversary, simply stating: “That thing Bill whispers to Scarlett was never intended to be anything.

“I was going to figure out later what to say and add it in and then we never did.”

Meanwhile, the co-stars have continued to enjoy the prolonged secret over the years, without actually giving it away.

The Cadyshak star, now 74, appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show back in March to promote his movie Riff Raff, however wound up reminiscing about the hit romantic comedy-drama from 2003.

“Well there was a girl, she was a teenager back then her name was Scarlett Johansson back then,” the comedian told Barrymore. “She was only 17 when she made that movie, 17 years old and it was beautiful to make the movie with the two of them [Coppola and Johansson].”

The host then hit up Murray about the unforgettable whisper scene.

“I love that you guys had the confidence to leave the film on the note of mystery,” she said.

“Well that was an inspired moment, that happened in the moment, it happened in the moment,” Murray said vaguely, before adding, “there were three of us that had the same moment.”

Despite whispering in Barrymore’s ear for added flair, Murray concluded by saying: “That was a moment of seeing, ‘This is going to happen and it’s going to be even better because we’re never going to know’.”

Right …

Scarlett Johansson was just 17 years old when the movie came out.

Bill Murray was 52 years old when he starred in Lost in Translation.

Similarly, Johansson weighed in back in 2023 around the film’s 20-year anniversary.

“Oh my god, that sounds pretty profound,” the Avengers star replied when hit up by Yahoo Entertainment about the exact transcript of the infamous moment.

“Probably way more profound than what was actually said!”

Listening to the internet’s answer a second time, she answered less confidently: “Maybe? I don’t know about that. I give it, like, a B-minus.”

Of course, Johansson declined to reveal the exact sentence.

And so, the mystery lives on.

Lost in Translation is currently streaming on tubi