After a long delay in the production of the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic, “Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said.” Word on the Old School curb is that director, Lee Daniels, and The Weinstein Company (the production company producing the film) are back at it with their all-star line up and a brand new multiplatinum selling rapper investor on board.
The rapper who will be dropping some major cash into the Richard Pryor biopic is ‘Mr. H-to-the iz-O-V-to-the-iz-A,’ Jay Z. Jay has recently gotten into the biopic business after teaming up with The Weinstein Company and has a few other projects in the works as well. Here is what was reported by Variety:
Lee Daniels has committed to directing The Weinstein Company’s Richard Pryor biopic with Jay Z on board to produce. The Weinstein Company had decided in May to postpone the project, titled “Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said,” after Daniels, the showrunner of Fox’s hit series “Empire,” left the helming gig when he was unable to fit the movie shoot into his schedule. A start date is now set for early 2017.
Harvey Weinstein announced Thursday that the project was back on track. […] The movie’s cast had been previously announced as Mike Epps as Pryor, Oprah Winfrey as his grandmother, and Kate Hudson as Pryor’s widow Jennifer Lee Pryor.
We’re not sure how much money Jay Z had to put up to be a part of the Richard Pryor project but it was definitely a pretty penny. With a cast like Oprah Winfrey, Kate Hudson and Mike Epps; and a highly in-demand director, like Lee Daniels, Jay’s price tag wasn’t cheap. You know how the Old School saying goes, ‘You gotta pay to play,’ and on the flip side of things, Jay Z’s return on his investment will probably be well worth it, once this Pryor biopic drops.
Jay Z will also have a few more biographical projects releasing. He and The Weinstein Company will also bringing to life the story of Kaleif Browder, a high school student from the Bronx who was jailed for three years in one of the nation’s roughest prisons, Rikers Island, all because he was accused of stealing a backpack. He never received a trial date and eventually committed suicide in 2015 by hanging himself in his cell. The docu-series will be in 6 parts and it is titled, “Time: The Kalief Browder Story,” due out in 2017.
Okay Jay-Z, we see you expanding your mogul status and shedding light on the lives of people whose stories deserve to be told…do your thing!