We just discovered that comedian Eddie Murphy is planning on landing a new role- for television! We hear that Murphy will playformer Maryor Marion Barry. The film will be directed by Spike Lee and will be televised on HBO, as part of their HBO Films.
According to The Hollywood Reporter;
HBO Films is developing an untitled television biopic centered on former Washington D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, whom Murphy would play should the project move forward, a source confirms to The Hollywood Reporter.
Spike Lee is attached to direct with John Ridley to pen the script. Murphy, Lee and Ridley would all serve as executive producers as the Washington Post first reported.
Journalists Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood have been tapped to consult, along with The Nine Lives of Marion Barry filmmakers Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer. Jaffe and Sherwood penned a book published in 1994 entitled Dream City detailing politics in D.C.
Barry served as the D.C. mayor from 1979 to 1991 and again from 1995 to 1999, and is currently a member of the D.C. City Council representing the city’s eighth ward. In January 1990, Barry was caught smoking crack cocaine at the Vista International Hotel in downtown and was arrested on drug charges, serving six months in prison.
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