Trading Places Trading Places Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. It tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler whose lives cross paths when they are unknowingly made part of an elaborate bet. Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis also star. The storyline is often called a modern take on Mark Twain's classic 19th-century novel "The Prince and the Pauper". The film was written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod and was produced by Aaron Russo. It was released to
Eddie Murphy at the end of his senior year, he was required to attend summer school. Murphy's early comedy was characterized by copious profanity and sketches lampooning a diverse group of people (including White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs), African Americans, Italian Americans, overweight people, and gay people). Murphy released two stand-up specials. "Eddie Murphy" was his first album, released in 1982. "Delirious" was filmed in 1983 in Washington, D.C. Due to the popularity of "Delirious", his concert film "Eddie Murphy Raw" (1987) received a wide theatrical release, grossing $50 million; the movie was filmed in the Felt Forum section of Madison Square Garden