Eddie Murphy to star as Marion Barry for Spike Lee

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Back during his promotional tour for TOWER HEIST, Eddie Murphy vowed that his days of filming family-friendly comedies were behind him telling Rolling Stone, “I don’t have any interest in that right now…I’m trying to do some edgy stuff.”

Staying true to his word, Murphy is attached to star in a biopic of former Washington, DC Marion Barry for director Spike Lee. The project is being set-up as an HBO Original Movie, which means the out-of-the-box performance from Murphy wouldn’t be eligible for Oscar consideration.

Berry was the mayor of DC from 1979 to 1991, leaving office after being arrested in 1990 for crack cocaine use and possession. After serving only six-months for various crimes, Berry was released and ran again for mayor in 1994 with the campaign slogan, “He May Not Be Perfect, But He’s Perfect for D.C.” He surprisingly won the election just three short years after being caught smoking crack on video while in office. (In 2005 he tested positive for marijuana and crack again, proving his troubles were far from over.)

Should the project move forward, both Murphy and Lee would executive produce the film. Lee seems busy setting up his OLDBOY remake but Murphy hasn’t decided his first post-Oscar-host move.