A biopic about the late great standup Richard Pryor has been in the works for nearly two decades now, and while the project has been dormant for the past few years, it looks like a Pryor biopic is once again in development. Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) is in talks to direct the movie, THR reports, and Marlon Wayans, Eddie Murphy, and Fruitvale Station’s Michael B. Jordan are being considered to star in it.
Wayans was attached to the part back in 2010 when director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) was going to direct it. Condon left the project to direct Twilight: Breaking Dawn and the movie’s been stalled out ever since. Wayans’s audition is said to have impressed the studio head, and Chris Rock had nice stuff to say about Wayans’s audition back in 2010 when he was going to produce the movie. “Marlon Wayans, he did a screen test and it was just unbelievable,†Rock said. “It’s not just doing the comedy of Richard Pryor. He captures the vulnerability of Richard Pryor.†A Pryor biopic has been in development since 1995 with Damon Wayans, Mike Epps, Chris Rock, and director Martin Scorsese attached at one point or another. For a complete history of the project, check out our piece on it from a couple years ago.