News: Richard Pryor Biopic Sets Cast and Writers

The Weinstein Company is ready to greenlight a Richard Pryor biopic, written by scribes Bill Condon and Empire's Danny Strong. Bruce Cohen and Jennifer Lee Pryor are attached as producers with Lee Daniels (Lee Daniel's The Butler) directing.

Thus far, the cast has proven to be amazing. Oprah Winfrey will play Pryor’s grandmother, who ran a brothel and raised the iconic comic there. Eddie Murphy will play Pryor’s father, Leroy “Buck Carter” Pryor. Kate Hudson is set to play Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor.

Mike Epps has signed on to play Pryor. Many incarnations of this biopic have come and gone, as have many stars in the running (Michael B. Jordan, Marlon Wayans, and Nick Cannon), but it was originally Richard Pryor himself that was involved in putting together the film through Indigo Productions, the banner he had with his wife in 2005, who selected Mike Epps to be the actor to take on his life story.

The script will also feature compelling storylines beyond Pryor’s barrier-breaking accomplishments on the standup stage, on TV, and in the movies with his politically charged, blue humor.

Download the script to Lee Daniel's The Butler, as well as 69 other scripts, legally and free, through this ScreenCraft blog post. 

Source: Deadline