(Retard Pig loves this movie)
From the website www.DearGodNo.com comes the news that lead role in the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic will be played by none other than Marlon Wayans, who was recently named “the funniest Wayans brother” by Opposite Magazine.
Last February, it appeared as though Eddie Murphy would reunite with his “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon to [play the lead]. To put it bluntly, things have changed. Condon is still moving forward with “Richard Pryor,” but Murphy is out and so are potential distributors Paramount Pictures and Fox Searchlight. Instead, HitFix can confirm that Marlon Wayans has auditioned and is now in negotiations to play the iconic entertainment figure. Additionally, the film will now be produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison productions at Sony Pictures.
Marlon impressed producers and executives with his dramatic audition featuring two scenes directly from the film.
Oof. “The story of a legendary comedian, from the people who brought you Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and the star of White Chicks” is not a tagline that inspires confidence. Anal leakage, maybe, but definitely not confidence. Then again, you don’t have to be a good comedian to play a good comedian, just a good actor. Here’s to hoping Marlon Wayans is better in this than he was in… well, everything.
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Every time I read Amelia, in my mind I hear Will Farrell shouting “Amelia!” like in Night at the Roxbury. Haha, good story, Vince. Anyway, this is the first trailer for Amelia, starring Hillary Swank as the aviatress who captured America’s heart by promising she could fly around the globe, only to fail miserably and die in the ocean, never to be found. Ever since, women have been banned from flying, and for that we thank her.
Earlier this week it was announced Steven Spielberg would be producing a biopic on Martin Luther King for Dreamworks, about which the only surprising thing was that someone hadn’t already made a a biopic on Martin Luther King. Today we have a hint as to why it may have taken so long.
One day after Daily Variety reported that Steven Spielberg had gained full access to the King Estate for what would be the first-ever narrative feature about the slain civil rights leader, two of King’s children are threatening legal action over the project.
More than one optionBernice King and Martin Luther King III have been embroiled in a legal battle with brother Dexter King, who is chairman-CEO of the King Estate, over who controls the personal papers of their late mother, Coretta Scott King. Bernice King told the Associated Press on Tuesday: “This is a deal that Mr. Spielberg and his people … have entered into believing that they have the blessing of the King Estate. They don’t have the blessings of Bernice and Martin King.”
DreamWorks insiders said they are confident that family infighting will not affect the project, which is in early development. …Though he didn’t address his siblings specifically, Dexter King released a statement on Tuesday evening saying he alone is in charge of granting access to his father’s intellectual property. [Variety]
I never understand the principle behind these peoples’ argument: if you want to make a movie about a public figure, you don’t need anyone’s permission. If they pay you anything, it’s only to keep you from suing. But I suppose they’re right to fight this. When Steven Spielberg makes a movie about Martin Luther King, you just know it’s going to be a slimy hack job.
As soon as Josh Brolin takes a break from starring in every movie ever, he says he’d like to produce a biopic about abolitionist/badass John Brown. As he tells ComingSoon…
“I know the character really well. Mark Gordon and I had a conversation, and we said, ‘Let’s do this, let’s get this done.’ People have been wanting to do it forever and there’s a lot of directors who’d love to be involved, so I think now’s the time.”
Just a refresher, John BROWN was actually WHITE. He was a famous advocate of rights for BLACKS, and though he wasn’t BLACK himself, he was HUNG. (just so we’re clear, that was a reference to penises, not lynchings. …though John Brown actually did get lynched. man, I wish I could go back in time and not write this post.)
A fairly-certain-sounding Nikki Finke is reporting exclusively [now confirmed by Variety] that Universal has acquired the rights to a biopic about Frank Sinatra, as well as permission from the Sinatra family, with Martin Scorsese attached to direct.
“This has been a passion project for [producer] Peter Guber for a long time, and first he got together with the Sinatra Estate and then with Scorsese who’s also a huge Sinatra fan,” an insider tells me. Tina [Frank's youngest daughter] herself has told journalists in the past that she would “trust Scorsese implicitly” to “present the truth” about her father because he’s also an Italian-American.
And the best part about it is that it probably torpedoes any shot Brett Ratner had at making the Rat Pack movie he had planned with Chris Tucker (seriously though, that was on the table at one point). Wow, a movie about Sinatra from the guy who did Goodfellas? Can you imagine? I think I just wopgasmed. Can’t stop… gesturing at crotch…
