The project is called Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? and it depicts Pryor's controversial brand of comedy and his battle with drugs. It's being written and directed by Bill Condon, the man behind Dreamgirls who hasn't much done since (except the Oscar ceremony). It's supposed to have a $20 million budget with Chris Rock, Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee Pryor, and Mark Gordon all lined up to produce, so it sounds like it's in good hands. "This is like an invitation to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for me, and I've never been more excited in my life than when I got the role," Wayans said.

But how did Eddie Murphy lose the role? If they had him locked, what changed? Producer Mark Gordon talks about what made them realize they needed to go in a different direction casting someone as Pryor.

"Obviously there are a number of requirements to playing Richard Pryor — you have to be funny, of course, but this role also has so many colors to it that you need to be a strong actor who can handle the dramatic scenes," Gordon said. "There were discussions with Eddie Murphy… Eddie Murphy is a great star, and I have no doubt he would be a great Richard Pryor. But Eddie Murphy is Eddie Murphy in the eyes of the audience. Marlon Wayans is a great actor and will be a great Richard Pryor, but he brings less baggage."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-ca-richard-pryor21-2010feb21,0,6466275.story?track=rss

I think Eddie would be better to play Richard than Marlon Wayans. Eddie grew up listening to Richard and Richard was his idol. So he knows a lot about him and he directed him in Harlem Nights movie. Eddie is good at playing in drama movies. He did a good job in Dreamgirls even though i think the movie sucked and he was good in Boomerang(this was kinda a drama but it was more comedy). He can be serious when he wants to. I really don't wanna see a movie about Richard's life because a movie was already done about his life which was Jo Jo Dancer.