The King of Comedy is a 1982 American black comedy drama 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. The film began shooting in New York on June 1, 1981 to avoid clashing with a forthcoming writers' strike, and opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1983.