From Dolemite to the Godfather of Funk, George Clinton. Deadline reports Eddie Murphy is in talks to play the founder of Parliament-Funkadelic in an upcoming biopic, once the rights have been secured from Clinton.
Murphy is working with producer and Dolemite Is My Name partner John Davis, and once they secure rights from Clinton the search will begin for screenwriters. The film will center on Clinton’s upbringing in 1940s North Carolina and rise to prominence as the purveyor of funk music, with an immeasurable influence on hip-hop artists including Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and pretty much anyone who ever claimed to “get funky.” Clinton and much of Parliament-Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, and received Lifetime Grammy Awards in 2019.
This is all part of Murphy’s three-picture deal he set up with Amazon Studios after the success of Coming 2 America. A George Clinton film has long been a passion project for Murphy, and we’ve seen the kind of work he can do when truly passionate about something. This one already has awards season written all over it, but a lot of that will depend on who is hired as director.
