Eddie Murphy – Picture: Getty Images
In an effort to expand its library of comedies, Netflix will be producing a yet-untitled feature film from Jonah Hill and Kenya Barris and starring Eddie Murphy. The project reunites Barris and Murphy as Barris wrote Coming 2 America that released earlier this year at Prime Video. The film will be a modern remake of the 1967 classic movie Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?.
The movie will be the directorial debut for Emmy nominee Kenya Barris, who already has an impressive script-writing resume under his belt (Black-ish, Grown-ish, The Witches). The creator notably has an overall deal with Netflix but recently departed that deal in favor of a new one at ViacomCBS.
The script for the movie was written by Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill.
Kenya Barris & Jonah Hill
Exec producing are Mychelle Deschamp and Hale Rothstein for Khalabo Ink Society, Strong Baby’s Matt Dines and Ali Goodwin and Andy Berman of Misher Films. Also exec producing are David Hyman and Charisse Hewitt Webster.
What’s the plot of the movie?
Plot details are being kept under the cloche, but it is said to be a modern look at the themes tackled in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?, the 1967 classic that saw a white couple’s daughter surprise her parents with a Black fiancé. (The movie starred Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton.)
In this version, however, it will be Jonah Hill’s character Ezra who will invite his Black girlfriend over for a dinner with his conservative Jewish family. Here is the movie’s logline:
When Ezra and Amira, an interracial couple, decide to get married, they leave it up to their families to plan their wedding. They quickly realize that their love for each other may not be enough for them to get through all this!
Original Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner movie
Who is cast in the movie?
The cast of the upcoming movie will be led by global stars Jonah Hill and Eddie Murphy. Hill will play Ezra, the man who decides to marry his Black girlfriend. Eddie Murphy will play Hakeem, Ezra’s future father-in-law.
What’s the production status of the movie?
Filming for the yet to be titled movie is currently planned to begin on September 27, 2021 in Los Angeles, US according to numerous production lists.
What’s the Netflix release date for the movie?
Netflix hasn’t announced a release date for the Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill movie, but we would expect it sometime around late 2022 or 2023.