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5 articles from 2009

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Eddie Murphy to Imitate Richard Pryor (More)

27 February 2009 2:41 PM, PST | newsinfilm.com | See recent newsinfilm news »

Eddie Murphy will take a break from voicing an ass in Shrek movies and being an ass in everything else to try acting again.  He is attached to play Richard Pryor in a biopic about the influential comedian.

Bill Condon is shopping around Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? to any interested studios after the Weinstein Company put the project in turnaround.  Fox Searchlight may pick it up, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Condon wrote and directed Dreamgirls, which earned Murphy his only Oscar nomination for “Supporting Actor.”  Murphy famously stormed out of the Academy Awards ceremony when he lost to Alan Arkin.

Like most top level comedians working today, Murphy was heavily influenced by the humor of Richard Pryor.  Eddie Murphy himself has credited Pryor as being the sole reason why he went into stand-up comedy, which ultimately made him a major Hollywood star.

But Murphy wasn’t just an admirer, »

- Jeff Leins

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Oscars 2010: Eddie Murphy as Richard Pryor in Bill Condon's biopic

27 February 2009 12:15 PM, PST | Gold Derby | See recent Gold Derby news »

The first time Eddie Murphy worked with writer-director Bill Condon he earned a nomination for best supporting actor at the Oscars. That was for playing a fictionalized version of singer James Brown in "Dreamgirls" back in 2006 (he lost to Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"). Now the two are reuniting to make a movie about Murphy's longtime idol — the late Richard Pryor.

Fox Searchlight — which shepherded "Slumdog Millionaire" to eight Oscars this year — is reportedly picking up this $25 million project. Eddie Murphy has long revered Richard Pryor, paying homage to him in his stand-up routines and casting Pryor in his directorial debut "Harlem Nights" in 1989. The life of the comic was fraught with drama — drug and alcohol abuse, broken marriages, illnesses — and could make for a powerful piece.

Bill Condon won an Oscar in 1998 for his script of "Gods and Monsters," which explored the troubled life of 1930s film director James Whale. »

- tomoneil

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Eddie Murphy To Play Richard Pryor

27 February 2009 11:07 AM, PST | ScreenRant.com | See recent Screen Rant news »

If there was ever a list of comedians whose lives are worthy of being made into a biopic, then surely the legend that is Richard Pryor would be near the top. Well it appears that none other than Eddie Murphy is attached to play Pryor in an upcoming film about his life, known for the time being as Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?

Pryor himself directed, wrote and starred in a fictionalized version of his life in the mid ’80s called Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling but this new film is said to “depict the events more realistically.” The film has been freed up by Oscar winning writer/director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) and producer Mark Gordon who have shopped it around at various studios.

Although originally developed by The Weinstein Company and almost secured by Paramount Pictures, Fox Searchlight has recently stepped in and acquired »

- Ross Miller

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Eddie Murphy Attached to Richard Pryor Biopic

26 February 2009 10:35 PM, PST | TheMovingPicture.net | See recent TheMovingPicture news »

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that writer/director Bill Condon is currently shopping around Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? to the studio subsidiaries and independent distributors around Hollywood, with Eddie Murphy attached to star as the late comedian. EW says the project was initially set up at The Weinstein Company never got off the ground. Condon was able to pull it out when the company put it into turnaround. Apparently Fox Searchlight is eyeing the film. Pryor, widely regarded as one of the most important stand-up comedians of all time, was best known for his unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and gained a reputation for his frequent use of colorful, vulgar and profane language and racial epithets. He also starred in numerous films as an actor, and often collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. He also co-starred in Harlem Nights opposite Murphy, »

- James Cook

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DVD Review: Coming To America (1988)

29 January 2009 6:01 PM, PST | The Hollywood News | See recent The Hollywood News news »

After Eddie Murphy became an enormous movie star, his ego started to get the best of him. That meant a series of flicks in which he presented himself more and more as some sort of slick hero, a trend that took us away from the rough-hewn charm that made him famous. In 1988.s Coming to America, Murphy goes even farther: he casts himself as a virile African prince.

In Coming, Murphy plays young Prince Akeem of Zamunda as he reaches his 21st birthday. On this day, he meets his preordained bride-to-be, but Akeem displays no excitement. Indeed, Akeem tires of his pampered position and wishes for something different. He wants an independent woman and a life with more freedom.

King Jaffe (James Earl Jones) just thinks Akeem wants to get some out-of-town loving, so he grants a delay of 40 days before the royal wedding occurs. However, Akeem plans to find a bride on his own, »

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5 articles from 2009

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