Forest Whitaker Joins Johnny Depp To Investigate Deaths Of Notorious B.I.G. And Tupac In Thriller ‘Labyrinth’Posted by Wilson Morales
November 16, 2016
Source: Deadline
According to Deadline, Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is set to join Johnny Depp in Labyrinth, the drama about the investigation into the murders of rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur
The site states that Depp will play Russell Poole, the Los Angeles police detective who is unable to solve the murders of rappers and Whitaker will play the journalist who teams with the cop. Each are determined to find the truth, and each with a reason to seek redemption in an effort that sets them against the cops.
Brad Furman will direct the project from a screenplay that Christian Contreras is adapting from LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records’ Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal.
Poole was a decorated detective who spent months investigating the murder of B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace, eventually coming to believe that a group of “gangta cops in his own force were not only involved but were also tied to Death Row Records and the Bloods street gang.” The result was confrontations with the LAPD police chief and culminated with Poole going into early retirement in protest.
Producing the film is Good Films. UTA and WME Global are co-repping US rights. Good Universe is repping international sales.
Poole died of an apparent heart attack on August 19, 2015, while discussing the Tupac and Biggie cases at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (Wikipedia).
Whitaker can be currently seen opposite Amy Adams in the sci-fi Arrival. He co-stars in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and just finished starring with Garrett Hedlund and Tom Wilkinson in Burden, the drama based on a true story about the KKK. Next up, he will play Bishop Desmond Tutu in the biopic The Forgiven, which also stars Eric Bana. After that, he joins Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o in the Ryan Coogler-directed Black Panther for Marvel next year.
