Eddie Murphy to play Richard Pryor in biopic

On the heels of the post about board games becoming blockbusters, I want to acknowledge this absolute blasphemy. This has been posted all over the internet, but here’s the story from Ain’t It Cool:

HitFix and Entertainment Weekly are reporting that Fox Searchlight will finance Bill Condon’s $25 million biopic RICHARD PRYOR: IS IT SOMETHING I SAID?, for which Murphy will waive his usual eight-figure fee in order to play his lifelong idol.

This might have been a fantastic idea in 1985 when Eddie Murphy was cutting edge and funny. Since then, he’s thrilled audiences with such garbage as Daddy Day Care, Norbit and Honkey Grandma Be Trippin’–oh wait, that one’s a Tracy Jordan joint.

In short, I can’t imagine him playing one of the greatest comedians of all time, and probably one of the funniest human beings to ever walk the earth. I think they would have been better off to cast a relative unknown who could really nail it because, despite his great Pryor impression, many won’t be able to get past the fact that it’s still Eddie Murphy.