Academy Award-nominee Eddie Murphy is in talks to play funk legend and Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton in an upcoming biopic.
Dubbed the Godfather of Funk, Clinton is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and widely regarded as one of the most important innovators of the musical genre, along with James Brown and Sly Stone.
The developing project is said to chronicle Clinton’s life and legacy, from his childhood in 1940s North Carolina, to the formation of his groundbreaking bands Parliament and Funkadelic in the late 1960s. The movie will also explore Clinton and the bands’ impact of the future of hip-hop and artists like Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast and the Wu-Tang Clan.
In addition to embodying the iconic musician on screen, Murphy will also serve as producer, alongside John Davis and Catherine Davis through their Davis Entertainment banner. The project is currently in its early stages as the filmmakers work to secure the rights with Clinton, before they set up writers and begin to shop the movie. To note, Murphy inked a three-picture, first-look film deal with Amazon Studios last year.
The comedy icon most recently garnered critical acclaim for another true life tale, Netflix’s “Dolemite Is My Name,” in which Murphy portrayed Blaxploitation film star Rudy Ray Moore. Following his Emmy-nominated return to “Saturday Night Live,” a platform which helped skyrocket his career, Murphy starred in “Coming 2 America,” the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 comedy. He’ll next star in the Kenya Barris-directed Netflix comedy “You People” opposite Jonah Hill, before reprising his iconic role as Alex Foley in “Beverly Hills Cop 4.” Murphy is repped by WME and Skip Brittenham.
Deadline was first to report news of the developing project.