In 2020, Barris introduced that he was directing the biopic about one of the vital influential comedians of all time, and whereas it stays in improvement, Barris mentioned it will likely be a 10-episode collection.
“It's a 10-part biographical restricted collection that takes a glance from the cradle to the grave,” Barris mentioned. “From his early schooling — he grew up in a ho home, or a home of sick reputation — and he grew to become, at one level, the largest star on the earth,” he instructed Selection Studio, which Audible introduced at Sundance Movie Pageant.
“He's my boy. I like him. He's my god of comedy. A brilliant flawed man, however that's all, to at the present time, the comedy we bear in mind – together with [Dave] Chappelle – it's by-product of what he began. That sincere, reflective, observational have a look at what the world is like and the variations between us that really make us extra alike than we’re aside. I believe telling his story and letting individuals see issues they didn't find out about him is one thing I'm tremendous excited to convey to life,” he added.
And that's not it. Barris can also be within the technique of remaking some traditional hits, however with a bit of spin on them. One is the Wizard of Oz. Barris mentioned that the script for the remake is completed, and his model of Dorothy is a woman who lives within the Bottoms, a big residence complicated in Inglewood, California.
“The unique 'Wizard of Oz' passed off through the Nice Despair, and it was about self-reliance and what individuals have been going by,” Barris mentioned. “I believe that is the proper time to alter characters and discuss what somebody imagines their life may very well be. It's finally a hero's journey, somebody thinks that one thing is healthier than the place they’re, and so they go and perceive that the place they’re is the place they need to be. I need individuals to be proud and glad about the place they arrive from. However I need the world to have a look and I hope it’s going to come.
As for his third challenge, “It's a Great Life,” Barris is working with Paramount to reimagine the story round an individual of shade. Barris mentioned he thinks the 1946 movie with Jimmy Stewart is appropriate for somebody of shade.
“I really feel like Christmas films are superb and I believe the concept of taking one thing that has such a protracted historical past and a narrative behind it and placing in superb expertise to inform that story,” Barris mentioned. “He's a person who's making an attempt to assist his neighborhood and issues are going to return again to him. I believe it's the proper story to inform for an individual of shade – Black or brown – to get into it as a result of our communities have some issues and somebody who's making an attempt to assist that neighborhood. I believe it's the proper car to inform that story,” he instructed Selection Studio.
“I'm nonetheless a believer in IP. I believe I'm shit for it typically, however I consider that the concept of a few of these nice tales – the tales are all instructed many times and once more. So have the chance to take a few of these IPs and inform them from a distinct perspective is a present that I hope I proceed to obtain.”
