The growing canon of hip hop biopics is about to get a long-awaited addition: Director Antoine Fuqua, whose previous flicks include Training Day and Brooklyn's Finest, will show Cali some love now that a film about the tumultuous life and tragic death of Tupac Shakur has been green-lighted.
After two years of legal battles between Morgan Creek production company, which initially claimed to own the rights to Pac's story, and Afeni Shakur, mother of the slain rapper and executor of his estate, it seems the next hip-hop icon is set to be immortalized on the big screen.
Fuqua, who is looking for an unknown actor to play the coveted lead role, said the movie will begin shooting in September.
Whatever agreement the parties came to in court is unknown, but the film's director, Antoine Fuqua, has publicly stated that Morgan Creek is indeed making the film and that he is ready to start casting.
Reactions from Tupac fans, friends and his mother to the completed film will be interesting considering the tumultuousness around this project and because director Fuqua has already announced he will select an unknown actor to play the coveted role of Tupac in the film.
Since Tupac's untimely death, Afeni Shakur, as executor of his estate, has been embroiled in legal battles to gain control over unreleased recordings, royalties owed to him, as well as simultaneously solidify his legacy.
Source: CentricTV