Eddie Murphy lands role in Lee Daniels’ Richard Pryor biopic

It was over a year ago when news broke that Lee Daniels was in talks to tackle the story of famed comedian Richard Pryor. One of the names brought up to play Richard Pryor was Eddie Murphy, a move that surprised no one as he had been connected to the role when Bill Condon was on-board to direct. However as we now know, the role ended up going to Mike Epps.

Those still hoping for Eddie Murphy’s involvement have cause to celebrate today as it was confirmed by Entertainment Tonight that he will indeed be involved in the film. The identity of his role is unknown at this time but ET and others suspect he’ll be playing LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor, Richard’s father.

Lee Daniels shared this photo on Instagram:

 

Strap in and brace yourself. They done let me and him out of our cages! #idonteventhinkimreadyforthisone! #excited #proud #OMG

A photo posted by Lee Daniels (@theoriginalbigdaddy) on Mar 12, 2015 at 3:17pm PDT

Currently the film stars Mike Epps as Richard Pryor, Oprah Winfrey as Pryor’s mom, and Kate Hudson as Jennifer Pryor, his wife. Eddie's addition to this group is an impressive boost but I feel as though Eddie needs this just as much as they need him; the man is hilarious but he hasn't had the opportunity to do anything of this caliber since DREAMGIRLS in 2006.