Richard Pryor Film Not Happening…Yet
If you’re like many of us who have known about and have been in anticipation of a Richard Pryor biopic I am here to tell you it wont be happening anytime soon. According to comedian and actor Martini Harris, during an interview with the Mason and Angie Starr Morning Show, he reveled that the film has been placed on hold, due to the fact the film was a Harvey Weinstein production and because of the allegation against Weinstein at the moment, the production on the film has ceased. Harris, who was also up for the role of Pryor, said that he helped coach Epps during the production process. Harris spoke with the family of Pryor often and said he received a phone call saying that production of the film was stopping after the Weinstein allegations surfaced.
(Photo by Morgan Lieberman/FilmMagic)
In October of 2020, Deadline reported rumors of MGM and black-ish creator Kenya Barris winning an auction for a Richard Pryor film. Deadline said that the original film was said to star Mike Epps as Pryor, Eddie Murphy as his father Leroy Pryor, Oprah Winfrey as Pryor’s grandmother, and Kate Hudson as Pryor’s widow, Jennifer. As of right now, there is no word as to whether or not Barris will continue with this cast or start from scratch with a whole new cast. As for Epps, he will get an opportunity to portray Pryor in the upcoming HBO docuseries about the 1980’s showtime Lakers titled Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty said to release in March 2022.
