Eddie Murphy to play ‘Dolemite’ star Rudy Ray Moore in Netflix biopic
Eddie Murphy has been away from the big screen for a while now. But according to reports by Deadline, the actor is set to return to the screen for the first time this year with 'Dolemite is My Name', a Netflix film which begins its production on June 12.
The movie is about the life and times of Rudy Ray Moore, the star of the Blaxploitation Dolemite films. Craig Brewer, who wrote Hustle & Flow, will direct the film while Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski will pen the script.
The script writing team behind this movie has also worked for quirky biological movies such as Big Eyes, Ed Wood and The People v/s Larry Flynt. John Davis and John Fox would produce along with Murphy who has been eager to play this role for a decade.
Moore worked at a Hollywood record store in the 1970s when he heard obscene stories about a pimp and hustler named Dolemite. He kicked off a club act where he became Dolemite.
He then generated records that mixed humor and a ghetto fantasy character, burnishing the legend.
The records became a big inner city underground hit but were considered too racy to be put on display in record stores. This allowed Moore to finance the 1975 film Dolemite, starring himself as a Kung Fu capable pimp ghetto hero. Moore followed with three sequels — The Human Tornado, The Monkey Hustle, and Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil’s Son-in-Law.
He continues to be a strong influence for the likes of hip-hop entrepreneur Snoop Dogg and he had something like a comeback starring the hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse in Big Money Hustlas in 2000. He passed away in 2008.
Murphy who has been away from the screen for a while was once unmovable. He was known for his hits such as Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Daddy Day Care, Dr Dolittle and Shrek.
According to Ladbible, back in 2013, he appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where he was picked on getting much pickier when it came to choosing scripts.
While talking about Beverly Hills Cop 4 and the fact that they’re going to keep reworking the scripts till they get it right, he said, “We have a script that's kind of pretty much there; [we're trying to] get it perfect. If we can get the script just right, it's something that we'll do... But this'll be perfect, because I don't wanna do anything else that sucks ever again. I don't wanna suck no more."