Eddie Murphy is in early talks to play George Clinton in an upcoming biopic, Variety reports.
The project is said to cover Clinton’s early life in North Carolina in the 1940s up until the formation of the Parliament and Funkadelic, which the Godfather of Funk and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee headed. Murphy is expected to serve as a producer, along with John Davis and Catherine Davis under their Davis Entertainment banner. The trio is still working to lock down his rights before moving forward with hiring writers and shopping it to studios.
Following the success of Coming 2 America on Prime Video after paying a reported $125 million to move the sequel off of Paramount during the harsher times of the pandemic last year, Amazon Studios inked Murphy to a three-picture, first-look film deal. The streamer was given the right of first refusal for the famed comedian’s upcoming projects.
This biopic is believed to be a passion project for Murphy, who took a few years off from movies before returning with 2019’s Dolemite Is My Name, which earned him Best Actor nomination at the Golden Globes. Later this year, Murphy is expected to appear in Netflix’s You People, a film directed by Kenya Barris and co-written by Jonah Hill. Lauren London, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Sam Jay, and Molly Gordon fill out the rest of the star-studded cast.
Murphy will also reprise his role as Alex Foley in the fourth installment of Beverly Hills Cop.