The Source |Kenya Barris to Direct Upcoming Richard Pryor Biopic

Kenya Barris is set to helm the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic.

The Black-ish creator will also serve as the writer and producer of the flick via his company Khalabo Ink Society.

Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor, will also be a producer on the project. “Having had a front row seat to much of Richard’s life, I am excited that the mystery of his genius is finally going to be explored and Kenya Barris is the perfect person to do it. Richard and Kenya are creative brothers,” she said.

Kenya Barris said in a statement, “The way Pryor did what he did — with truth and specificity that was somehow self-aware and self-deprecating, and said with an unmatched level of vulnerability — that was the power and impact of his work. Pryor had a voice that was distinctly his and, in many ways, comedy since then has been derivative of what he created. To me, this is a film about that voice, the journey that shaped it, and what it took for it to come to be.”

Richard Pryor had an illustrious career during his lifetime. He penned the cult classic series Sanford and Sons and starred in over 50 movies and in The Richard Pryor Show and Pryor’s Place.