The King of Comedy (film) The King of Comedy (film) The King of Comedy is a 1982 American satirical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard. Written by Paul D. Zimmerman, the film focuses on themes including celebrity worship and American media culture. 20th Century Fox released the film on February 18, 1983, in the United States, though the film was released two months earlier in Iceland. Production began in New York on June 1, 1981, to avoid clashing with a forthcoming writers' strike, and opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1983. Rupert Pupkin (Robert
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro was not released until 1969. The two reunited for the 1968 film "Greetings", which was De Niro's official film debut. In 1973, De Niro had been praised for his role in "Bang the Drum Slowly" while Scorsese had been working as an editor on the movie "Woodstock". The same year, Scorsese and De Niro collaborated for the first time on the gangster film "Mean Streets". Scorsese had been taught that entertaining films can be shot with little money by Roger Corman, who had helped prepare Scorsese for the difficulties of making "Mean Streets". The film, about a small-time gangster living