Black-ish creator Kenya Barris will write, direct, and produce a biopic of legendary standup comedian Richard Pryor for MGM. Pryor won over audiences with a unique voice that combined self-deprecating humor and unvarnished honesty to hilarious effect.
MGM won the rights to the movie in stiff competition with other studios, THR reports. Barris has teamed up with Jennifer Lee Pryor, Pryor's widow, to produce the project: Barris through his company Khalabo Ink Society and Lee Pryor with Tarnished Angel. Tory Metzger for Levantine Films and Adam Rosenberg will also produce. Read Barris' statement on the Pryor biopic below:
The way Pryor did what he did—with truth and specificity that was somehow self-aware and self-deprecating, and said with an unmatched level of vulnerability—that was the power and impact of his work. Pryor had a voice that was distinctly his and, in many ways, comedy since then has been derivative of what he created. To me, this is a film about that voice, the journey that shaped it, and what it took for it to come to be.
This will be Barris' film-directing debut. The screenwriter is responsible for multiple TV and film comedies, including Black-ish spinoffs Grown-ish and Mixed-ish, as well as blockbusters like Girls Trip and Little. The screenwriter recently collaborated with David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein on the script for the Coming To America sequel. He's also behind the latest Shaft installment that resurrected the Samuel L. Jackson series.
Multiple attempts at a biopic have been made in the past: Eddie Murphy was considered to play Pryor back in 2009, and a movie with Lee Daniels directing and Kate Hudson playing Pryor's wife almost came to fruition in 2016.
Richard Pryor cemented his place as one of the greatest standups in history with a groundbreaking style that inspired both hopeless imitators and influential forces in their own right like George Carlin, Dave Chappelle, and Jerry Seinfeld. The comedian released several stand-up specials that won him five Grammys and was the first person to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor for his commentary on race and the human condition. Pryor was also an Emmy-winning writer, actor, and director with credits that include Blazing Saddles and David Lynch's Lost Highway.
Source: THR