Richard Pryor Bio-pic Is Coming..Guess who Is Gonna Play Him.

[TAURO]

HitFix confirmed today that Eddie Murphy is attached to play legendary comedian Richard Pryor in the new drama "Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?" for Oscar-winning writer and director Bill Condon.

Originally developed with The Weinstein Company, Condon and producer Mark Gordon were able to free it up in turnaround and have shopped it to different studios. Paramount Pictures was close to securing the project, but Fox Searchlight recently stepped in after having no qualms with the film's $25 million budget.

Condon previously worked with the Searchlight team on "Kinsey" and Paramount was a co-financier on the $100 million hit "Dreamgirls." While setting up "Pryor," he spent the past few months as executive producer of last Sunday's 81st Academy Awards.

Murphy, who featured impersonations of Pryor in his early stand up routines and cast him in his own directorial effort, "Harlem Nights," is said to be enthusiastic about playing his longtime idol and has dropped his usual salary requirements for the role.

The script also features prominent roles for Pryor's four wives and Red Foxx. Those roles have not been cast as of yet. Additionaly, the film's title will likely change before release.

Pryor was a groundbreaking comedian who found success on the stage, on screen and won five Grammy Awards for his concert albums. At that height of his career he also suffered from drug addiction and in 1980 accidentally set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine and drinking 151 proof alcohol. This darker side of his life was chronicled in Pryor's fictionalized biopic "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling," but this new film is said to depict the events more realistically. Pryor died in 2005 at the age of 65 after suffering a heart attack and a long battle with multiple sclerosis.

Murphy, who received his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of James "Thunder" Early" in "Dreamgirls," has two comedies in the can for release this year, the recently retitled "Imagine That" and "A Thousand Words."

Condon is looking to start production this summer for a 2010 release.

Now that is ideal casting.

[GZAjector]

i hope eddie murphy's british accent doesn't affect the way he plays pryor

[TAURO]

i hope eddie murphy's british accent doesn't affect the way he plays pryor

[Vikthor]

im actually very happy with this..

[Uncle Steezo]

doesn't make sense to me.

he doesn't look like him
his "pryor" ain't all that convincing
eddie has no swagger right now

[-The A to the Z-]

I hope to hear Eddie curse heavily, like back in the good old days.

Swearing tastefully is a lost art.

[Dooch]

in these situations its better off just to get a pryor impersonater

[cap]

now thats good news!!
cant wait.

[Uncle Steezo]

why are folks thinking that this eddie is gonna be in the movie?






when its really gonna be this eddie in the movie.

[TAURO]

Eddie Murphy has the potential to be a great actor, he just hasn't been given the right material to work with. His role in dreamgirls was good enough to get nominated for an oscar so clearly he is capable of bringing a great performance, not to mention the fact that Pryor was like Eddie's idol coming up, I don't see Eddie Murphy coasting through this movie.

[Uncle Steezo]

eddies problem is that he's eddie.
meaning that he set the bar so high that he has to 'bring it' every time he's on camera.
as he gets older that gets harder and harder.

i love eddie. i just had to accept the fact that this eddie is gone forever.



Growing up in chicago helps in situations like this.

[Dooch]

Eddie too dark but at least he gots the stache down

[GZAjector]

i swear to fucking god sasha baron cohen would be perfect for this role

[INF]

Style is right about Eddie. He maxed out and then started becoming a "hit or miss" type cat. He hit with Norbit and missed with that junk where he was really small or had really small ppl living inside of him (cuz he was a robot?????).

I dont see how they gonna have a dark skinned brother play a light skinned brother but whatever. I wonder if Rich wouolda even approved this....

[GZAjector]

exactlyyyyyy

see, what i meant by eddie murphy's british accent, is if you ever hear this cat talk in an interview or some shit, it's like there's no fucking trace of that dude from back in the day. he's like the male black madonna with smaller muscles. he talks like some fucking old rich white dude, all soft spoken and articulate and shit.

you can almost hear the old eddie murphy when he plays donkey, but even then IMO it's not even close. get fucking charlie murphy to do it, because that dude is the truth.









but forreal, get borat in black face, and bladow!







or even this dude, swear to god is 100 times closer to richard pryor than eddie murphy. with more or a sense of humor.


Jay Kandaharasekhar night shalamalan







gotta be the moustache