Eddie Murphy, Spike Lee Making Marion Barry Film

It seems that for the first time since his Oscar nominated performance in Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy will be taking on another serious role as D.C. mayor Marion Barry.

The new project will be directed by Spike Lee and is being developed as a film project for HBO. Harry Jaffe and Tom Sherwood, who have written the book Dream City: Race, Power and the Decline of Washington, D.C. have signed on as consultants, along with Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, who made the film The Nine Lives of Marion Barry.

The screenplay will be written by John Ridley of Red Tails and Da Brick.

Barry was the mayor of D.C. from 1979 to 1991 and was caught smoking crack in a hotel after a videotape surfaced of the event in 1990. Barry became mayor once again from 1995 to 1999.

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.