A Sam Kinison biopic has been in the works almost since his death in 1992. Howard Stern and Robin Williams were both producing the film at one point but eventually the feature film prospects faded and in 2008 it looked like Tom Shadyac had finally cracked the code: a made-for-TV movie on HBO starring Dan Fogler.
Two years later that film is still languishing in development hell but HBO isn’t ready to give up on the film yet. In fact, they’re so confident, they’re using their HBO Films production company to get the film ready for the big screen. Shadyac (ACE VENTURA) is still attached to direct but it looks like Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini who wrote the 2008 script (and also the lovely AMERICAN SPLENDOR) have been jettisoned for a new script from Rich Wilkes (the xXx series).
It’s unclear if Folger is still attached to star. He seemed like the perfect star for the TV movie but if they’re going with a big theatrical release, they may look for a bigger name to help with financing. I’d love to see Jonah Hill take a leap into the dramatic with this role but we’ll see…
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