Eddie Murphy set for Spike Lee’s Marion Barry biopic
Oscar nominated comedy great Eddie Murphy who stepped down as Oscars host and known for films including Daddy Day Care, Imagine That, Meet Dave and the Shrek franchise looks set to move on from family friendly projects as he is attached to star as controversial Washington mayor Marion Barry in Spike Lee's upcoming biopic.
Barry served as mayor of the city between 1979 and 1991 and then again between 1995 and 1999, with the two terms broken up by a six-month jail term after he was videotaped smoking crack cocaine. To this day, he’s still a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, which proves there are some cities where you really have to do bad things not to get re-elected.
Red Tails scribe John Ridley whose other credits include Three Kings and Steve McQueen's next film - Twelve Years A Slave is on writing duties drawing inspiration from several sources including a 1994 book about Barry called Dream City written by Washington journalists Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood.
While there's no start date on this one, it's a meaty subject for the iconic director and Murphy to tackle.
HBO previously tried to make a version some time ago with Ray's Jamie Foxx in the lead role and Chris Rock set to produce, but the project never took off.
As for Murphy, he can currently be seen in Brett Ratner's Tower Heist and will next be seen in A Thousand Words on April 6.
A THOUSAND WORDS IS OUT ON APRIL 6