Back in 2008, Russell Crowe attached himself to play Bill Hicks in a biopic of the iconic comedian. Little has been heard about the project since, but now The Telegraph reports that Crowe is out as star, but he’s planning to make the movie his directorial debut.
Mark Staufer, a long-time friend of Crowes, wrote the script. He tells the Telegraph “Bill Hicks life is tragically short, but spectacularly interesting The screenplay has gone through a number of drafts and well go into production early next year.”
The plan is now to find someone for the lead, with Staufer commenting, “It is a huge role for someone, made all the more special, or downright scary, by the fact the director is an Oscar-winning actor like Russell.”
Bill Hicks was born in 1961, launching his career as a stand-up comedian at the age of 16. He toured all across the United States and the UK throughout the 1980s and 1990s, developing his brand of dark, edgy humor. He died at the age of 32 in 1994 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.