Eddie Murphy In Talks To Play Godfather Of Funk George Clinton
Eddie Murphy is in talks to star as the Godfather of Funk music, George Clinton, in an upcoming biopic. Clinton is considered one of the genre's progenitors alongside James Brown and Sly Stone, and his band, Parliament-Funkadelic, scored numerous singles on the R&B charts in the 1970s. The band has since been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Parliament-Funkadelic were known for their livewire energy and eccentric attire during shows, and they incorporated surrealism, humor, science fiction, and psychedelia into their music.
Coming off the success of Coming 2 America, the biopic would be part of a three-picture deal Murphy signed with Amazon. Deadline reports the film will follow Clinton's simple upbringing in North Carolina in the 1940s, through his doo-wop and Motown beginnings, all the way to the formation and rise of his bands. The film will also likely pay service to his massive influence on hip-hop and G-Funk music, with Clinton having collaborated with artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Outkast, and Red Hot Chili Peppers among others.
Murphy himself has a musical past, releasing two hit singles in the 1980s, although most of his music has been comedic in nature or part of a film soundtrack. While his career had been seeing somewhat of a lull, the last time Murphy tackled playing a real person, Blaxsploitation filmmaker Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite is My Name, it aided in his current resurgence. Eddie Murphy is set to produce the biopic as well.
Source: Deadline