Russell Crowe to Direct Rather Than Star in Bill Hicks Biopic

Posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2012 by Russ Fischer

It took his death in 1994 to make people really realize that Bill Hicks was among the decade’s most unique voices in social criticism. Ostensibly a stand-up comic, Hicks was a fierce critic of marketing and advertising (“you do a commercial, you’re off the artistic roll call forever”), and of pop culture trends. But his screeds weren’t merely loud rants, as he would also dive into exploratory monologues about the nature of existence and fulfillment.

Hicks is the subject of a documentary (American: The Bill Hicks Story) but now a dramatized biopic may finally be coming together, with Russell Crowe at the helm. The actor is reportedly set to make his feature directorial debut with a film about Hicks, which could shoot next year. Read More »

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Russell Crowe in Bill Hicks Biopic?

Posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

Russell Crowe revealed to the Sydney Morning Herald, that he might be playing Bill Hicks in an upcoming biopic, which is progressing from “treatment to draft stage with Kiwi writer by Mark Staufer.”

Hicks was a successful stand-up/rant comedian in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s, once voted “Hot Standup Comic by Rolling Stone Magazine, and listed at #19 on Comedy Central’s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. Hicks battled drug and alcohol abuse before dying from pancreatic cancer at 32-years-old. Talk of a biopic began in 2004 at Paramount Pictures, but the project never got off the ground. For those who haven’t experienced Hicks’ comedy, check out his NSFW bit on marketing after the jump.

Thanks to FlicksNews for passing this along.

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