Bill Condon thinks Eddie Murphy has got the funk enough to play George Clinton in his new movie about the Parliament-Funkadelic frontman. The film will mark the first time Murphy and Condon have worked together since Murphy’s Oscar-nominated performance in Dreamgirls.
As first reported in an exclusive from Deadline, the film’s script is being worked on by Virgil Williams, “from an original draft by Max Werner. The project was initiated by Catherine Davis, a lifelong George Clinton fan, who brought the idea to Murphy.” Murphy will be producing the film alongside John Davis, Catherine Davis, Greg Yolen, Charisse Hewitt-Webster, Archie Ivy, Jeff Jampol, as well as George Clinton himself.
Related
How Sylvester Stallone Inadvertently Helped Launch Eddie Murphy’s Hollywood Reign
Beverly Hills Cop helped make Eddie Murphy a bona fide leading man, but the comedy franchise almost looked very different.
Who is George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic?
According to reports, the film is based on George Clinton’s memoir, Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You? It will tell the “untold story of [the] influential pioneer of funk, and his tumultuous journey to founding [the] musical collective Parliament-Funkadelic.”
Clinton has been a long-time fixture on the music scene, with the band’s singular style and outlandish live performances garnering fans the world over. In addition to iconic songs like “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)”, Parliament-Funkadelic was renowned for their psychedelic and surrealist sounds and themes. Their wild origins, singular fashions, idiosyncratic sense of humor, and subsequent success redefined music in culture, particularly in the 1970s.
Largely considered a music collective, the band achieved thirteen top ten hits on the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983 after getting their start as a doo-wop band in suburban New Jersey (where Clinton was born). Their work has been wildly influential on a myriad of other bands and genres, from punk to hip-hop, and even techno. It is even said that their mythology helped pioneer Afrofuturism.
Condon’s most recent project is the feature adaptation of the popular (and Tony Award-winning) Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna. As for Murphy, he can next be seen in the Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson starrer, The Pickup. He also recently starred in the long-awaited sequel, Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel F. There are also reports that he will be returning to the Shrek universe in the much anticipated 5th installment of that franchise, where he played the beloved Donkey.
- Release Date
- July 1, 2026
- Director
- Walt Dohrn , Brad Ableson
- Character(s)
- Donkey , Princess Fiona , Shrek