‘Dolemite Is My Name’ Trailer: Eddie Murphy Turns into a 1970s Blaxploitation Star

Eddie Murphy hasn’t had much luck on the big screen for the past couple decades. With the exception of Shrek and Dreamgirls, he’s produced and starred in some truly dreadful movies. But it looks like we’re on the verge of a return to form for the once-thriving comedian, because along with the forthcoming comedy sequel Coming 2 America, we’ll see Eddie Murphy back as a real-life character who was truly larger than life.

Dolemite Is My Name stars Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, a real-life comedian known as the “Godfather of Rap” who reinvigorated his struggling career by turning himself into a wild 1970s blaxploitation character called Dolemite. And along with Murphy, the film features an incredible ensemble cast that includes Tituss Burgess, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Keegan-Michael Key, Snoop Dogg, and even Wesley Snipes, looking like he’s having the most fun he’s had in a long time. Watch the Dolemite Is My Name trailer below to see for yourself.

Dolemite Is My Name Trailer

Entertainment Weekly debuted the trailer for the movie, which is preparing to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, followed by a limited theatrical release and arrival on Netflix sometime this fall. This already looks leaps and bounds better than nearly anything Eddie Murphy has done since Bowfinger. In fact, this movie actually feels like 1970s version of that movie, but with a significantly higher amount of black talent in front of the camera.

On top of the great comedy on display in an adaptation of a true story from Hollywood’s history, the movie actually has some style to it too. That’s because director Craig Brewer brought in Black Panther costume designer Ruth E. Carter to handle the wardrobe. Plus, with a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs. O.J. Simpson), this is bound to be an entertaining look at a story that hasn’t been told on the big screen before.

Stung by a string of showbiz failures, floundering comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Academy Award nominee Eddie Murphy) has an epiphany that turns him into a word-of-mouth sensation: step onstage as someone else. Borrowing from the street mythology of 1970s Los Angeles, Moore assumes the persona of Dolemite, a pimp with a cane and an arsenal of obscene fables. However, his ambitions exceed selling bootleg records deemed too racy for mainstream radio stations to play. Moore convinces a social justice-minded dramatist (Keegan-Michael Key) to write his alter ego a film, incorporating kung fu, car chases, and Lady Reed (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), an ex-backup singer who becomes his unexpected comedic foil. Despite clashing with his pretentious director, D’Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes), and countless production hurdles at their studio in the dilapidated Dunbar Hotel, Moore’s Dolemite becomes a runaway box office smash and a defining movie of the Blaxploitation era.

Dolemite is My Name doesn’t have an exact release date yet, but it arrives sometime this fall.

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