SHOPPING AROUND - Eddie Murphy Attached To Richard Pryor Biopic
Eddie Murphy as Richard Pryor...? Why not! Although, when it comes to biopics, I prefer that the actors/actresses playing the role of the person whose life story is being retold, be unknowns. It's just less distracting.
I'm no Richard Pryor aficionado, so I can't really say anything genuinely profound about this, one way or the other, so I'll leave it to you "Pryor pros."
According to Entertainment Weekly:
Bill Condon shopping Richard Pryor biopic, with Eddie Murphy attached
Writer/director Bill Condon, who just completed his debut run as producer of the 2009 Academy Awards, is shopping his script Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? to the studio subsidiaries and independent distributors around town. Eddie Murphy is attached to star.
Sources tell EW.com that Fox Searchlight, the studio behind this year's big Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, is interested in the film. The studio, which declined comment, has a relationship with Condon, having partnered with the director on his 2004 feature Kinsey.
Condon, who most recently wrote and directed Dreamgirls, had the Pryor biopic set up at The Weinstein Company but was able to pull it out when the indie outfit put it into turnaround. He initially was hoping to secure $30 million to produce the film, but that number, sources say, has dropped down to $25 million.
Murphy, who has featured Pryor impersonations in his act as far back as the 1987 concert movie Raw, seems a likely choice for this role.
Recall …Is It Something I Said? was the title of Pryor's 1976 Grammy Award winning release. It won for Best Comedy Recording.
via EW
Wow! This is the first time I saw this..it's so interesting, I was just thinking of the routine when Eddie said he called Richard Pryor after Bill Cosby blasted him back in the day. Richard and Eddie seemed to be good friends.
UBM said he thought Eddie could be great again by relaying his painful life experiences through comedy like Richard did...maybe this can be a first step; I actually think he might be great at it, their lives were so parallel (physical resemblance be damned!)
A couple of friends and I were talking about what happened to Eddie Murphy's career. He redeemed himself in DREAMGIRLS, but then destroyed it again with NORBIT and MEET DAVE among others. This may be the boost he needs to bring his career back on track. And, he should really consider going back to stand-up comedy, period.
My first thought was that Eddie Murphy really only knows how to do... Eddie Murphy! But then BFA reminded me that he did, indeed, redeem himself in Dreamgirls.
So yeah, this could be the challenge he actually needs - the one that'll draw his inner artiste out of him.
And, although this will obviously involve a lot of comedy, I can't see that it will be a particularly comedic role. Reiterating what IW said, maybe this can be a step towards true acting greatness for Mr Murphy.
i agree no names make it easier to enjoy.
i did a vs. or roger smith and harry lennix i think one of them may be able to play pryor. they aren't no names but many people don't know who they are.
i love eddie murphy but i don't see him a pryor. i think it would be better for him to play paul mooney in the picture.
oh i had this thought while using the bathroom = ) you know who play the perfect richard pryor? david alan grier. umh hmm