Eddie Murphy may soon be laughing all the way to the bank. According to TMZ, the comedy icon is about to sign a $70M deal with Netflix for standup comeback.
Murphy, 58, hasn’t been on the standup stage in years, but when he was on the circuit his shows were legendary. And his standup comedy films, “Eddie Murphy: Delirious” and “Eddie Murphy: Raw,” were major box office successes.
Although the Netflix deal has yet to be confirmed if it does become finalized the “Beverly Hills Cop” actor will have a record-breaking deal.
“Dave Chappelle raked in $20 million for each of his three award-winning specials, Chris Rock banked $40 million for his two-show package and Amy Schumer reportedly asked for — and received — more than $11 million for her last Netflix showcase,” The New York Post reported. Though comedienne Mo’Nique called for a boycott of Netflix in 2018 because she said they lowball Black female comics, offering her just $500,000.
Murphy, who received an Oscar nomination for “Dreamgirls,” was one of the pioneers of the standup documentaries.
Recently Murphy hinted he would be back on the standcup scene. During a surprise appearance on Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” Seinfeld asked Murphy, “You know that you not doing stand-up drives people crazy — you know that, right?”
Murphy, who told Seinfield the “last time he saw” Don Rickles shortly before his death in 2017 Rickles urged pushed him to do stand up again, replied: “I’m gonna do it again. It’s just, you know, everything has to be right. The only way I can get, like, an act is I gotta go to the clubs and work out.”
It would be a long awaited return as “Murphy hasn’t done much standup since his landmark ‘Raw’ and ‘Delirious’ specials in the ‘80s. Netflix hasn’t yet confirmed any potential specials, but the comedian’s ‘Cars’ appearance is now streaming,” Vanity Fair reported.
