Bill Condon, director of Dreamgirls, which will forever be known as the film which scored Eddie Murphy an Oscar nod during his deep descent toward oblivion, has a new Richard Pryor for his Richard Pryor biopic.
That’s right, Eddie Murphy has stepped down from the role of his comedic idol, most likely to drown himself in latex makeup. Instead, we’ll be seeing a film led by Marlon Wayans of Scary Movie and Requiem for a Dream fame.
The question isn’t one of Wayans’ talent — I think he’ll actually be quite good — but of Murphy’s madness: this could have been the role of a lifetime for the actor, one of redemption. But then again, it might have been disaster, so perhaps I should count my blessings. Variety indicates that Condon was having trouble shopping the project around due to the salary that Murphy was demanding — perhaps this is the reason he stepped down from the role?
Regardless, Condon is in talks to begin production of Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? next Spring under Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison productions and Columbia Pictures. Hopefully the director and producers Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Jack Giarraputo and Jennifer Pryor can turn this into a winner.
