*The Weinstein Company’s ready to be greenlit biopic on Richard Pryor is assembling a powerful cast with Oprah Winfrey and Eddie Murphy now officially among those on board for the project.
Page Six cites Deadline, which reports that Winfrey will play Pryor’s grandmother, Marie Carter, who ran a brothel and raised the comedy icon there while Murphy will portray Pryor’s father, Leroy “Buck Carter” Pryor. The pair will join Kate Hudson, who is set to play Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor and Mike Epps who will be the one playing Pryor on the big screen.
Production on the Pryor biopic will start in March after Lee Daniels wraps up the second season of “Empire.” “Empire” co-creator Danny Strong, Bruce Cohen and Jennifer Lee Pryor will serve as producers on the film
The addition of Murphy and Winfrey marks the latest development in the Pryor, film which generated headlines in selecting the best actor to play the late funnyman. Epps ultimately won the role after he reportedly beat out contenders such as Michael B. Jordan, Nick Cannon and Marlon Wayans with a stellar audition.
Epps involvement with the film goes back to 2005, when he won the role as Pryor, who was alive, worked on putting together the film through Indigo Productions, the company he had with his wife. At the time, Walter Hill was attached to direct and co-write the script for the biopic.
“I met Richard and felt like I was in Oz the whole time,” Epps said told Page Six regarding his first go-around with the movie in 2014. “It’s hard to describe what he means to me or any standup comic. You could say he’s paid the dues for everything we do up there.”
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