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
Robert De Niro where many other wealthy New York City residents maintain estates on large properties, won in State Supreme Court. But in 2014, the trust's lawyers appealed the decision and the town was unsure if it should continue to defend the suit because of its own financial limitations (it would have earned far less in payments on the increased taxes than it had spent in legal bills). This has made many residents, who initially sympathized with De Niro, angry, and some proposed to raise money privately to help the town continue the suit. A local newspaper's report on the continued dispute was