Recently, it was announced that JAY Z had reached a two-year television and film deal with film studio The Weinstein Company, which aims to produced movies as well as both scripted and unscripted (read: reality programming) television shows.
Since then, JAY has already announced a six-part docu-series (that will air on Spike TV) on the life of Kalief Browder, a New York high school student who — after being accused stealing a backpack in 2010 — was sent to Rikers Island for three years without a trial or due process. Shortly after being released, Browder committed suicide in 2015.
Jay also revealed a second project, this time for NBC, which will be a program about Nicholas Irving. Irving is a former Special Operations Direct Action Sniper in the 3rd Ranger Battalion for the U.S. Military, and the first African American to serve in that position.
Now, Shawn Corey Carter is revealing his third magic trick, a biography on one of the greatest comedians of all time: Richard Pryor.
Titled Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?, the film will be directed by Lee Daniels (Empire, The Butler). Funnyman Mike Epps will star as Pryor, while Eddie Murphy will portray Pryor’s father LeRoy “Buck Carter” Pryor, and Oprah Winfrey as Pryor’s grandmother Marie Carter. Oscar-winning screenwriter Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Chicago) is penning the script.
At a press conference JAY said, “You don’t get more commercial [than Pryor]. His story is an American story. You’ll understand how many lives he’s touched, from every single comedian to rappers like Biggie Smalls, who I won’t recite the lyric because we’ve got Ms. Browder in the audience. But y’all know the lyrics.”
Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? is scheduled to begin shooting in 2017.
