Late comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who was best known for his Dolemite character, is getting a biopic called Dolemite Is My Name at Netflix with Eddie Murphy as the star. If that wasn't already cool enough, the script was written by script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the duo responsible for quirky biographical films including Big Eyes, Ed Wood, and The People Vs. Larry Flynt. This could be a huge winner for Netflix and the legacy of Blaxploitation hero Rudy Ray Moore and his Dolemite alter ego.

Dolemite was a character that Rudy Ray Moore created while he was working in a record store in the early 1970s. He would hear stories from pimps and gang members walking into the store and always heard of a big bad dude named Dolemite. Moore then decided to embellish the stories and use them in his comedy act, which proved to be quite fruitful. He became Dolemite and started putting out records as the character, making enough money to finance the first Dolemite movie in 1975.

The highly quotable Dolemite is a Blaxploitation classic with far reaching influences. Dolemite is a pimp and nightclub owner who is serving 20 years in prison after being set up by a rival pimp when the movie begins. He is later helped by a friend and fellow pimp who helps him get out of jail and exact his revenge. The film was traded around tour busses by hip hop artists like the Beastie Boys and later with Snoop Dogg, which resulted in Rudy Ray Moore starring in Big Money Hustlas with Insane Clown Posse in 2000.

Rudy Ray Moore lived a pretty colorful life, starting in Arkansas, Cleveland, and Wisconsin. While in Wisconsin, Moore was a preacher and a night club dancer in the evenings. He later went back to Cleveland and started comedy, often appearing in character as Prince DuMarr. Moore then joined the US Army and was nicknamed the Harlem Hillbilly because he would sing country songs in the style of R&B. By the time he reached the west coast after the Army, he found himself working in a record store, which is where he heard the stories that would inform his most popular character to date, the infamous Dolemite.

Eddie Murphy is the ultimate choice to portray Rudy Ray Moore and trace the history of Dolemite and awesome comedy records. Murphy last starred in 2016's Mr. Church and before that, he starred in 2012's A Thousand Words. Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow) is set to direct the Rudy Ray Moore biopic. There has not been announcement about when the project will start filming and an official release date has not been revealed by Netflix. This is definitely something to get excited about with Eddie Murphy on board with a script written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. This story was first reported by Deadline.