Black-ish creator Kenya Barris has been tapped to write, direct and produce the biopic on legendary comedian Richard Pryor. The film was snagged by MGM in a tense world-wide bid for the comedian’s life story. Barris is producing the film through his company Khalabo Ink Society with the comedian’s widow – Jennifer Lee Pryor – who is producing via Tarnished Angel. Adding to the producing lineup is Tory Metzger for Levantine Films with Adam Rosenberg executive producing.
Richard Pryor is heralded as the greatest comedian of all time by many in the craft. His raw approach has been said to have transformed the art as we know it. Barris told Variety, “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 isn’t the first time the comedian’s story is told however. Pryor released and directed his own biographical comedy-drama Jojo Dancer, Your Life is Calling You in 1986. The movie recounts Jojo Dancer’s (Pryor) life while under a coma from a narcotic related accident. After Pryor himself, Lee Daniels attempted at directing a film on the comedian’s life, which had an all star cast queued, but never came into fruition. The film would’ve starred Mike Epps as Pryor, Kate Hudson as Jennifer Lee Pryor, Eddie Murphy as Pryor’s father and Oprah as his mother. It should be noted that Richard Pryor was the first recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1998.
Kenya Barris has a slew of work to his credit. Black-ish was the foundation for his other -ish installments; Grown-ish and Mixed-ish, which he created for ABC. He also has his own biographical series of sorts with #BlackAF on Netflix. Barris’ screenwriting credits include Girls’ Trip, Shaft, The Witches and the upcoming Coming 2 America with Eddie Murphy.
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