There have been attempts to make a film about the life of legendary comedian Richard Pryor in the past, with the likes of Eddie Murphy and Bill Condon attached in the past. Nothing has come together, but Black-ish creator Kenya Barris is looking to change that, agreeing to write and direct a yet-to-be-titled biopic of his life and times.
MGM has stepped up to buy the rights to the film, which will be Barris' feature directorial debut. Over the course of his career, Pryor appeared in more than 50 movies, headlined the series The Richard Pryor Show and Pryor’s Place, and wrote for TV shows including Sanford And Son. Among his numerous accolades, Pryor was the first-ever recipient of the annual Mark Twain Humor Prize.
"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," Barris says in a statement. "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."