Eddie Murphy is set to star in and produce “Candy Cane Lane,” a new holiday comedy for Prime Video.
Reginald Hudlin will direct the film, produced by Amazon Studios, Imagine Entertainment and Eddie Murphy Productions, from a script written by Kelly Younger and inspired by Younger’s childhood vacation experiences. Murphy is on board as a producer, working alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer and president of motion pictures Karen Lunder and Charisse Hewitt-Webster. With Hudlin at the helm, the new film reunites the team behind the hit romantic comedy “Boomerang” and marks the seventh feature collaboration between Grazer and Murphy. Plot details are being kept under wraps, and production will begin this winter in Los Angeles.
“The holiday season is my favorite time of the year – just ask my family about my nine-hour Christmas playlist!” Hudlin stated. “I’m excited to work with Eddie Murphy, Brian Grazer and Amazon again.”
The new project is the first film in Murphy’s first-view deal with Amazon Studios, which the parties formalized in 2021 following the successful launch of “Coming 2 America” on the streamer.
Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said: “As we know firsthand with our hit ‘Coming 2 America,’ Eddie is someone who brings a global audience together and we can’t wait for it to happen again! We look forward to seeing the multi-talented Reggie Hudlin take the helm in reviving this future holiday classic!”
Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer and director Hudlin has directed films such as “House Party,” “Boomerang,” “Marshall,” “The Black Godfather” and “Security,” and produced films including “Django Unchained,” as well as series including “Phat Tuesday,” “Friday Night Vibes” with Tiffany Haddish, “The Boondocks” and the animated series “Black Panther.” In May, Variety exclusively reported that Hudlin would return to produce the Emmys for the third year in a row; Hudlin is also the second African-American to produce the Academy Awards. In addition to his work in film and television, Hudlin is also a comic book writer and has created award-winning series for “The Black Panther” and “Spider Man,” and co-owns Milestone Media, which develops multi-ethnic superhero properties for print, film and television in in cooperation with WarnerMedia.
Younger’s credits include writing and developing several projects for The Muppets Studio, and he previously co-created and co-executive produced “Muppets Now” and wrote and co-executive produced the 2022 PGA Award winner “Muppets Haunted Mansion.” In addition, Younger has story credits for Disney Animation’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” and also contributed to “Frozen 2,” “Moana” and “Raya and the Last Dragon” while a member of the Disney Animation Story Trust.
As for Murphy, the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning actor and comedian — who has been one of Hollywood’s most successful box office performers over the course of his 40-year career — is on board. In addition to “Coming 2 America,” Murphy also starred as Rudy Ray Moore in Netflix’s critically acclaimed “Dolemite Is My Name” and won his first Emmy for his big comeback as host of “Saturday Night Live.” He will next produce and star in Netflix’s “Beverly Hills Cop 4,” and will appear opposite Jonah Hill in the upcoming Kenya Barris-directed comedy “You People.”
Rok was the first to announce news about the project under development.
Hudlin: Ingrid Hertfelder / Junior: Jon Rou
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