"EDDIE MURPHY IN 'FENCES'"

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

I read the other day that when "FENCES" opened on Broadway in the 80s, Paramount Pictures bought the screen rights to the play for Eddie Murphy, who at the time was their biggest box office star.  To me, it seems that that would have been a very bad choice on his part, he hadn't really been proven to be a dramatic actor and who knows who they would have cast opposite him...

[Theater_Nerd]

ChgoTheatreGuy said: "I read the other day that when "FENCES" opened on Broadway in the 80s, Paramount Pictures bought the screen rights to the play for Eddie Murphy, who at the time was their biggest box office star.  To me, it seems that that would have been a very bad choice on his part, he hadn't really been proven to be a dramatic actor and who knows who they would have cast opposite him...

 

If any of that is true I don't know which role they planned Murphy to essay when they purchased the film rights. At that point Murphy was way too young to play "Troy" and he was too old for "Cory". The only role that he was suitable for in the play as written was "Lyons" - a supporting role and a relatively minor one at that. So unless a massive re-write of the material was planned Murphy was not suitable for any of the leading male roles in the piece. 

Glad it wasn't made back then. 

 

[LarryD2]

Paramount bought the rights for FENCES in the late eighties, with the idea that Murphy would play Cory and JEJ and Mary Alice would reprise their roles as Troy and Rose. For multiple reasons, the project never got off the ground. I was just starting my career working in theater at the time and remember there was lots of talk about the prospect of a FENCES film in Broadway circles.

It may seem odd to consider Murphy in the role of the teenaged son, but keep in mind that he's actually younger than Courtney B. Vance, who originated the role on Broadway. He was about 25-26 when Paramount acquired the rights for him, but the project never got off the ground.

[haterobics]

Theater_Nerd said: "If any of that is true I don't know which role they planned Murphy to essay when they purchased the film rights. "

Obviously, he would have played all the roles!