Netflix reveals a trailer for Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore in the biopic about the comedian, film producer and star of the blaxploitation Dolemite films.
Story is Stung by a string of showbiz failures, floundering comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy) has an epiphany that turns him into a word-of-mouth sensation: step onstage as someone else. Borrowing from the street mythology of 1970s Los Angeles, Moore assumes the persona of Dolemite, a pimp with a cane and an arsenal of obscene fables. However, his ambitions exceed selling bootleg records deemed too racy for mainstream radio stations to play. Moore convinces a social justice-minded dramatist (Keegan-Michael Key) to write his alter ego a film, incorporating kung fu, car chases, and Lady Reed (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), an ex-backup singer who becomes his unexpected comedic foil. Despite clashing with his pretentious director, D’Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes), and countless production hurdles at their studio in the dilapidated Dunbar Hotel, Moore’s Dolemite becomes a runaway box office smash and a defining movie of the Blaxploitation era.
“Dolemite” marks a major screen comeback for the 58-year-old Murphy, who has only made a handful of smaller films, such as “Mr. Church” and “Tower Heist,” since his heyday. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2007 for “Dreamgirls,” and has continued to provide the voice of Donkey in the “Shrek” films.
Hustle and Flow‘s Craig Brewer directs a script by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, (Big Eyes, Ed Wood, The People Vs. Larry Flynt) John Davis and John Fox are producing with Murphy.
Supporting cast includes Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Snoop Dogg, Ron Cephas Jones, Barry Shabaka Henley, Tip ‘TI’ Harris, Luenell, Tasha Smith.
Dolemite Is My Name will hit select theaters and Netflix this fall.
