Jordan Allen-Dutton To Script Richard Simmons Biopic Starring Pauly Shore

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: The Wolper Organization has tapped Jordan Allen-Dutton (Robot Chicken) to pen the script for its recently announced Richard Simmons biopic produced by and starring Pauly Shore, Deadline has learned.

While the title of the film hasn’t yet been disclosed, nor specifics to the approach it’ll take in depicting the life of the famed fitness guru, producer Mark Wolper has shared that it will be “a dramatic and heartfelt feature in the tone of Little Miss Sunshine.” Shore came to the project after campaigning for years to play Simmons in a feature, given popular online opinion that no one resembles the fitness icon more than him. Previously, he portrayed Simmons in The Court Jester, a short film written and directed by Jake Lewis that sold out multiple screenings in Park City, UT earlier this year and garnered over a million views on YouTube in 24 hours.

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While Simmons has made it clear that he disavows the feature project — saying, “don’t believe everything you read” — Shore has suggested that the world needs the biopic “now more than ever.” Over the course of Simmons’ career, the actor and comedian said, he came to represent “mental health, getting people in shape and being his authentic silly self! Whenever he was on TV you could never take your eyes off of him and he brought such a joy to his appearances that represented nothing but a good time.”

With regard to the feature biopic, Allen-Dutton stated, “I hope to make Richard’s story inspiring, tight, and provocative like a good pair of dolphin shorts.”

Equally active in comedy and drama, Allen-Dutton garnered three Emmy nominations during his five years working on Adult Swim’s adult animated series Robot Chicken. Additionally, he’s done award-show writing for Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell and scripted drama pilots for Berlanti, Warner Brothers, Ley Line Entertainment, and Apple. His work has been nominated for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and has also won the Grand Jury Prize at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

Shore will next be seen performing his one man show, Pauly Shore – Stick With The Dancing: Stories From My Childhood at The Comedy Store, as part of Netflix Is a Joke Fest, on May 3rd.

Allen-Dutton is repped by Gersh, Entertainment 360, and Ziffren Brittenham.

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