Marlon Wayans to Produce and Star in Semi-Autobiographical Starz Comedy ‘Book of Marlon’

Marlon Wayans (Credit: Shutterstock)

Marlon Wayans is set to lead a new half-hour comedy for Starz inspired by his life and career.

The actor and comedian will play a fictionalized version of himself in the project titled Book of Marlon, the network announced Tuesday.

Wayans is a co-writer and executive producer on the comedy which is currently in development.

Diallo Riddle (Marlon, Insecure) and Bashir Salahuddin (Top Gun: Maverick, The Dropout) will serve as showrunners and executive producers alongside Wayans, Rick Alvarez (Marlon, Sextuplets) and 3 Arts Entertainment’s Michael Rotenberg (Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe).

“We’re excited to be in business with such enthusiastic partners. Starz is a big brand, and we are happy to bring some smiles to the table,” Wayans said in a statement. “It’s great to know that we can push the envelope and get into some good, fun trouble with this project on this platform. Diallo and Bashir are good friends and great collaborators. Book of Marlon will be smart, fun and twisted with a dash of heart and a whole lot of unapologetic humor.”

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The project comes from Sherman’s Showcase and South Side creators Riddle and Salahuddin. It was previously in development at HBO Max, but was put on hold before finding a new home at Starz, according to Deadline.

Wayans, Riddle, Salahuddin and Alvarez will co-write the pilot episode of Book of Marlon, which will be produced by Warner Bros. Television for Starz.

“We are beyond thrilled to develop this sophisticated and hilarious series with Marlon, Diallo, Bashir and Rick, who each bring their own level of artistry and authenticity to everything they touch,” said Kathryn Busby, president of original programming at Starz.

Wayans most recently starred as Ted White in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect, opposite Jennifer Hudson. In 2020 he co-starred in Sofia Coppola’s Apple-A24 movie On the Rocks with Rashida Jones and Bill Murray.

Among his other credits are the films 50 Shades of Black, A Haunted House, A Haunted House 2, White Chicks, Scary Movie and the NBC sitcom Marlon.

This fall, Wayans can be seen in the Netflix horror comedy The Curse of Bridge Hallow.