Eddie Murphy is the mayor of Washington

Eddie Murphy will play Marion Barry directed by Spike Lee.

Director Spike Lee ( Malcolm X , Inside Man ) has found his interpreter for the role of Marion Barry in the person of Eddie Murphy. The latter also co-produce TV movie on the life of Barry for HBO. 

Marion Barry was mayor of the city of Washington. He made three consecutive terms from 1979 to 1991. In 1990 he was arrested for drug possession and put behind bars, but that does not stop him from being re-elected for a fourth term from 1995 to 1999. 

According to The Washington Post , John Ridley ( Third Watch ) wrote the screenplay, in addition to co-produce with Murphy Lee.

This movie is based on the book non fictional Harry S. Jaffe and Tom Sherwood, Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington DC , and the documentary by Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, The Nines Lives of Marion Barry .

Recently seen in Tower Heist , Eddie Murphy will also be featured in the drama A Thousand Words expected in theaters March 23, 2012.