Eddie Murphy and Oprah Winfrey joins Mike Epps in the Richard Pryor Biopic
The Weinstein Company is ready to start working on the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic, and it looks like the cast is going to be amazing.
According to reports, Oprah Winfrey will play Richard Pryor’s grandmother, who ran a brothel and raised the iconic comedian there. Eddie Murphy will play Richard Pryor’s father, Leroy “Buck Carter” Pryor. Kate Hudson is set to play Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor.
Mike Epps star as Richard Pryor, a role pursued by dozens of actors. Daniels, who worked with WEinstein and Oprah Winfrey on the blockbuster Lee Daniels’ The Butler, will start filming in March, after filming the second season of his hit Fox series Empire.
The Richard Pryor biopic is written by Bill Condon and Lee Daniels’ collaborator Danny Strong, and Bruce Cohen and Jennifer Lee Pryor are deepy involved in the process as producers. There are compelling storylines that will center beyond the comedian’s comedy and focus on his life on TV, movies, and politically incorrect jokes.
Oprah Winfrey’s and Eddie Murphy’s acting history
Oprah Winfrey is very picky about the roles she plays. The Butler and and Selma were the last two movies she worked on. Oprah will play the brothel owner Marie Carter, who raised Pryor in a home full of prostitues, where her own daughter and Pryor’s biological mother worked.
Eddie Murphy revealed in an interview that he grew up watching and idolizing Richard Pryor. “Richard’s the one that made me want to do comedy,” he has previously said. “When I was little I used to sneak into my basement and put his albums on.”
Eddie Murphy has been staying out of the limelight recently. Eddy Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop 4? is stuck in development hell. According to TheWrap, Paramount has taken the ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ sequel off its release schedule, which means the movie is still in production.
Earlier this year, Eddie Murphy told Rolling Stone that script concerns were the primary reason behind the continued delay.
“They[‘re] still trying to get that script right. I’m not doing a ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ unless they have a really incredible script. I’ve read a couple things that look like they can make some paper, but I’m not doing a shitty movie just to make some paper. The shit got to be right,” said Murphy.
Mike Epps as Richard Pryor
The emergence of Mike Epps was not unexpected, but it is hard to believe. Deadline revealed in 2015 that Epps had emerged as the likely choice after an amazing audition, one that was done for Daniels when Epps was competiging against Michael B. Jordan, Marlon Wayans and Nick Cannon.
Mike Epps won the job back in 2005, when the iconic Pryor was alive and involved in putting together the film through Indigo Productions, the production company he had with his wife.
