The 2022 holiday movie season may be winding down, but a 2023 release is already taking shape: Award-winning actress, producer, and CEO Tracee Ellis Ross has teamed up with Eddie Murphy on the comedy “Candy Cane Lane.”
Directed by Reginald Hudlin, the Amazon Studios film is currently shooting in Los Angeles with a screenplay by Kelly Younger, inspired by his childhood vacation experiences. The project marks the first time the two comedians have shared a screen, though details of Ross’ role, like all plot details, are kept under wraps.
News of the project comes after Ross ended her critically acclaimed run as the star and producer of ABC’s “Black-ish” this past spring. For eight seasons, Ross played Rainbow Johnson in the family comedy, winning a Golden Globe and six NAACP Image Awards, as well as five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Critics Choice nominations. Two of the other three NAACP Image Award winners came for her starring role as Joan Clayton on Girlfriends.
Since closing Black-ish, Ross has transitioned to executive producing the Onyx Collective-Hulu documentary “The Hair Tales” and the upcoming podcast series “I Am America,” which will feature stories about America’s hidden angels. She recently starred in 2020’s The High Note, and is next set to appear opposite Jeffrey Wright in Cord Jefferson’s Emmy-winning debut at MGM’s Orion Pictures.
Ross represents UTA, Artists First, ID, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox.
“Candy Cane Lane” is the first project in Murphy’s three-picture, first-look deal with Amazon Studios, signed in 2021 following the successful launch of “Coming 2 America” on Prime Video. The comedy also reunites the cast of 1992’s “Boomerang” — which starred Murphy and directed by Hudlin, with Grazer producing — and marks Murphy and Grazer’s seventh major collaboration. The duo produced for Eddie Murphy Productions and Imagine Entertainment, respectively, along with Charisse Hewitt-Webster and Karen Lunder.
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