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
The Gambler (1974 film) Freed, although obviously different from the character De Niro would have created," wrote Toback later. It was filmed at a time when leading actor James Caan was battling his own addiction to cocaine. Caan says the film is one of his favorites. "It's not easy to make people care about a guy who steals from his mother to pay gambling debts." Some see the film as a loose adaptation of the short novel "The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In August 2011, Paramount Pictures announced a remake of the 1974 film "The Gambler" with the original producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert