Paramount Will Finally Go Ahead and Release That Eddie Murphy Film You’re Not Eagerly Awaiting

Tim Grierson
·Editor
At least he hasn't put out an album in a while. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Ben Stiller Foundation
At least he hasn't put out an album in a while. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Ben Stiller Foundation

We've spent sometime discussing the phenomenon of straight-to-DVD movies from big stars: It happens to most of the greats, and oftentimes the film is so buried that the public never finds out about its existence. But what we haven't mentioned is the other actor embarrassment: a movie you shot years ago that eventually gets released because, well, you're a big star so it sorta has to come out. Such is the fate of Eddie Murphy's "A Thousand Words."

If that title doesn't ring a bell, you're not alone: We actually thought this was a new movie, but apparently it was shot back in 2008 with director Brian Robbins, who previously worked with Murphy on "Norbit" and the huge bomb "Meet Dave." It's finally coming out in January, which is when studios dump the movies even they know are no good.

According to SlashFilm, Paramount is quite aware of this film's terribleness through test screenings, though we have to admit that the logline doesn't sound atrocious. Murphy plays a guy who discovers he's only allowed to speak 1,000 more words before he dies. We don't know if that means 1,000 unique words or just 1,000 words, but the script was written by Steve Koren, who's done high-concept comedies like "Click" and "Bruce Almighty." Is this a comedy or a comedy-drama? Regardless, could it possibly be worse than some of the films Murphy's made lately? According to SlashFilm, yes:

Paramount has been sitting on the film, reportedly reshooting part of it earlier this year. It had been scheduled for a January release this year, but that date came and went. We still haven't seen any official marketing material -- no trailer, no images -- and probably won't for some time.

At this point, Murphy might prefer for "A Thousand Words" to just disappear onto DVD rather than giving people the opportunity to point and laugh when it slinks into theaters during the dead of winter. And to think: The guy was this close to winning an Oscar a few years ago. You probably shouldn't mention that if you see him, though.

Shelved Eddie Murphy Film 'A Thousand Words' Gets January 2012 Release Date [/film]