Perhaps inspired by his Shrek soulmate Mike Myers, who will end his on-screen acting hiatus with Terminal, Eddie Murphy is reportedly set to star in Soul Soul Soul: The Murray Murray Story. The actor-comedian hasn’t appeared in a movie since A Thousand Words, which, have you seen A Thousand Words? Murphy deserved his timeout. Anyway, Soul Soul Soul is a fake documentary about a 1960s soul singer, Murray Murray (Murphy), who, “after a hot new artist samples his hit 1962 song, [attempts] to get his old band back together in the hopes of taking down hip-hop.” Murphy was great in Dreamgirls and, to go back decades, as James Brown on SNL, so the premise is promising.
The director? Not so much.
Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner are negotiating to star and direct, respectively. Sources say they may wait to see the script before deals move forward. Murphy and Ratner would be reuniting after working on 2011’s Tower Heist together, and were at one time attached to collaborate on Beverly Hills Cop 4. (Via)
Ratner is the poor man’s Michael Bay. His films are gaudy and slick, but they lack imagination. Say what you will about Bay, at least his movies have a unique visual style to them. (Also, he made Bad Boys, which is still fantastic.) Soul Soul Soul is being developed by Netflix, and snagging Murphy would be the streaming service’s biggest addition since signing Adam Sandler to a four-picture deal. Hopefully this turns out better than…that.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
