Eddie Murphy to play former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry for HBO

HBO is developing a film about the life of former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry, and it wants Eddie Murphy to play the lead role.

The project, first reported by the Washington Post, is still in its early stages, but it's already attracted some big names. Spike Lee is set to direct the movie, and John Ridley ("Three Kings," the upcoming "Red Tails") will write the screenplay. Murphy, Lee and Ridley would all serve as executive producers.

There's certainly plenty of material for a biopic in Barry's life. A civil-rights activist and member of the D.C. school board in the early 1970s, Barry was elected mayor of Washington in 1979 and was in his third term in office when he was infamously arrested for use and possession of crack. He served six months in federal prison -- and two years after being released, won a fourth term as mayor. He currently serves on the D.C. City Council.

If the HBO movie goes forward, it would be Murphy's first major TV role since he left "Saturday Night Live" in the early 1980s. Lee and Ridley, meanwhile, are also working on another HBO project, a drama pilot called "Da Brick."