What’s sure to excite many fans of comedy, a Richard Pryor biopic is on the way. On Monday, it has been announced that MGM has one of the rights to the film.
Along with landing the rights, Black-ish creator Kenya Barris will be making his directorial debut for the film, which he will also write. Barris will also produce via his Khalabo Ink Society banner, with Jennifer Lee Pryor producing for her Tarnished Angel studio alongside Tory Metzger for Levantine Films. Adam Rosenberg will executive produce.
In a statement regarding the film, Barris stated,
“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.”
Jennifer Lee Pryor added,
“Having had a front-row seat to much of Richard’s life, I am excited that the mystery of his genius is finally going to be explored and Kenya Barris is the perfect person to do it. Richard and Kenya are creative brothers,”
