Last week, we reported on Eddie Murphy nabbing the lead in a new biopic that would tell the story of musician and actor Rudy Ray Moore. With the cameras now rolling, director Craig Brewer has the rest of the cast in place, with Wesley Snipes leading a roll call that also includes Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
With a script from biopic experts Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, the film, now called My Name Is Dolemite! will follow Moore's fascinating journey to the screen and beyond.
Moore worked in a Hollywood record store in 1970 when he began hearing outlandish and obscene stories of pimp and hustler named Dolemite. He started a club act where he became Dolemite. He began generating records that mixed humour and a ghetto fantasy character, burnishing the legend. While too racy to be put on display in record stores, the records became a big inner city underground hit. The proceeds allowed Moore to finance the 1975 film Dolemite, in which he starred as a kung fu-capable pimp ghetto hero who stuck it to The Man. Moore followed with three sequels. He died in 2008, but not before his career had been kept going by many of the people he influenced.
While we don't have character listings for most of the new cast, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Snipes is on to play D'Urville Martin, and arrogant actor and notorious alcoholic who ends up directing Dolemite.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.