Eddie Murphy Is Reportedly In Talks For His 1st Standup Special In 30 Years

This weekend, Netflix released the latest season of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. With the new batch of episodes, Eddie Murphy appeared as a guest. The two comedians who helped make NBC a destination network for comedy in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively, share memories of their trade while riding together in a rare Porsche Carrera GT speedster.

“I’m going to do it again,” Murphy tells Seinfeld about standup, the medium which both men used to launch major and versatile Hollywood careers. “Everything just has to be right. You have to get up there and start working out.” Perhaps fittingly, the episode finds the two giants of comedy sitting at the Improv, a landmark in both men’s careers.

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With the new shows, TMZ reports that Murphy’s team is in negotiations with Netflix surrounding a standup special. The story says that the current offer is around $70 million. Murphy has not done a standup since 1987’s Eddie Murphy Raw.

If accurate, the $70 million figure is a testament to Murphy’s legacy. The creator of Raw, Delirious and two platinum comedy albums compares favorably to deals with Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock that each amounted to $20 million per special, according to TMZ. The Robert Townend-directed Eddie Murphy Raw was released in theaters, making more than $50 million at the time; his previous 1983 special debuted on HBO. Murphy attended a premiere party for Seinfeld’s newest Netflix show season. Dave Chappelle, posing for several photos with Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.

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Elsewhere in the Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee episode, Eddie Murphy speaks about feeling a double standard from Bill Cosby. “He wasn’t nice,” Eddie says, recalling the criticisms from “America’s Dad” that eventually made their way into Murphy’s standup act. “He wasn’t doing that with everybody; he was doing that with me specifically. He was sh*tty with me.” Four years ago, Murphy opted to decline a scheduled bit to lampoon the disgraced comedian for an SNL 40 special. The moment came during a public outcry ahead of Cosby’s eventual 2018 conviction and prison sentence for s*xual ass*ult. At the time of the SNL anniversary special, Cosby applauded Murphy’s decision. Later that year, Murphy did not hold back impersonating the elder comedian when accepting the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in Washington, D.C.

In related news, Arsenio Hall is confirmed by Deadline to reprise his role for the Coming To America sequel. In the original and the upcoming film, Hall will play “Semmi,” the sidekick to protagonist “Prince Akeem.” In addition to Murphy, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and Jermaine Fowler are among the returning cast members. Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) is directing a script penned by Kenya Barris, the creator of Black-ish.

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Hall’s last acting credit belongs to 2009’s Black Dynamite.