Although a biopic has been mooted for years, it looks like 'Boyhood' director Richard Linklater will finally be the one to get a Bill Hicks biopic to the screen.
Collider reports that Linklater will write, produce and direct the film based on the life and work of controversial comedian Bill Hicks for Focus Features. Hicks, who was a fellow Texan like Linklater, began working comedy clubs in the '80s across the US and gained a huge following on this side of the Atlantic in the early '90s.
Hicks died at the age of 32 from pancreatic cancer, just as his comedy was beginning to connect with US audiences. Marc Maron, who would go on to host 'WTF', open for Hicks during his shows in New York. Currently, there's no word on casting, however as far back as 2008, Russell Crowe was said to have been keen to take on the role.
Linklater is best known for directing 'Dazed and Confused', 'Boyhood', and the 'Before Sunrise' trilogy of dramas with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. His next movie, 'Where You'd Go, Bernadette' will star Cate Blanchett and Sarah Paulson, and is expected to be released some time around March 2019.
No release date has been set as of yet for the as-yet untitled Bill Hicks biopic.
