Richard Linklater is Set To Write and Direct a Movie About Comedian Bill Hicks

Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, School of Rock) is set to write and direct and new film based on the life of comedian Bill Hicks. The project is set up at Focus Features and it seems like another solid movie for Linklater to take on.

Linklater was a big fan of Hicks who grew up in Houston, Texas. He started doing stand-up comedy there when he was just 16-years-old and performed at a place called the Comedy Workshop. He rose to comedy fame in the 80s, but his life was cut short when he died in 1994 at the age of 32 due to pancreatic cancer.

Collider reports, “Following an Austin screening of the 2009 documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story, co-director Matt Harlock told IndieLondon that Linklater considers himself a contemporary of the late comedian, and that he felt a real resonance with Bill’s story given his own Southern Baptist upbringing in Houston. In fact, Linklater’s older brother went to the same school as Hicks and knew some of his friends, and apparently, Hicks was a big fan of Dazed and Confused, which was released five months before the comedian died…”

When talking about the comedian and his talent, Linklater had this to say about him:

“There’s not quite any others like him. They don’t speak in the same voice. You’d think people would take that torch and go with it, but it’s a rare combination of that kind of intelligence, mysticism, political, you know… his politics, his angle, it’s pretty unique. I go through my life all the time… everything that’s going on in our culture, I always think, what would Bill Hicks be doing? You just miss him.”

If you’ve never listed to Bill Hicks comedy, you should check it out. It very funny stuff. I’ve always enjoyed Linklater’s filmmaking style and I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles Hicks’ story.