Based on tweets from director Lee Daniels and powerful media god Oprah Winfrey, it looks like Mike Epps will be playing Richard Pryor in Daniels’ upcoming biopic. Pryor fans should rejoice, considering the role had long been attached to Nick Cannon. (Pryor’s kids thought Marlon Wayans should do the job, according to TMZ.) But Daniels tweeted a photo of himself, Winfrey, and Epps on Sunday along with the words “Get ready y’all- #MikeEpps as #RichardPryor.” Winfrey Instagrammed a photo featuring the trio giving an awkward thumbs-up as well, apparently after a read-through of the script. This is good news for Pryor fans: Though Epps is mostly known for playing clueless goofballs—most notably in the Friday movies—he’s got far more of Pryor’s natural charisma than Cannon or Wayans do. (And he’s got a dark side, too, having allegedly beat up another comic earlier this year for telling jokes about him on stage.) Daniels is coming off the success of The Butler (which co-starred Winfrey), and the whole shebang is being produced by Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor. Hopefully they’ll honor the comedian’s legacy by telling the hard truths, but making them funny as hell. [h/t Uproxx]
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