HitFix has confirmed that Eddie Murphy will play his idol and legendary comedian Richard Pryor in an upcoming drama/biopic Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? for Fox Searchlight.

The movie will be written and directed by Bill Condon. Condon has written the scripts for Best Picture winner Chicago and brilliant documentary The Devil and Daniel Webster. He’s also written and directed well-respected movies like Kinsey and Dreamgirls.

Richard Pryor died in 2005, but he was one of those guys that was so loved and so respected, that it still doesn’t even feel like he’s gone. It will be interesting to see how a movie about him looks. Apparently the movie will also be casting multiple female roles for the wives of Pryor, as well as the also legendary Red Foxx.

As well all know, Eddie Murphy hasn’t been on a very good streak for… well, quite a while now. Most people can’t even stand him anymore, but I’m one of those people who still remembers old school Eddie and will always love him for those movies. Aside from Dreamgirls, most of his parts are cheesy, useless family-aimed fare, so it’s really exciting to think about him stepping into a role like this. Considering how much Pryor meant to Murphy, you’re likely to see him leave it all on film. Murphy even took a paycut from his normal fee to do this movie.

The above-mentioned title is apparently a working title and likely to be changed.