Antoine Fuqua To Direct Tupac Shakur Biopicby Wilson Morales
February 11, 2011
A big screen biopic on the life of slain rapper and legend Tupac Shakur has now been greenlit with Antoine Fuqua tapped to direct the film.
While no leads have been named as of yet, principal photography is scheduled to begin in late Spring/early Summer on the biopic ‘TUPAC,’ with Los Angeles, New York, Georgia and Las Vegas as part of the location shoots, stated James G. Robinson, Co-Chairman/CEO, and Rick Nicita, Co-Chairman/COO, of Morgan Creek Productions.
The film will chronicle the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip hop artist and actor, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records, where he was steeped in the East coast/West coast rap war.
According to Moviehole.net, the film will also showcase his days attending the Baltimore School of the Arts as a teenager, to his decision to leave his mother’s dead-end life behind and embrace the Thug Life in California, to his wild success as a rapper.
A casting call was recently put out for the roles of Jada Pinkett (Smith) and Kidada Jones, Quincy Jones‘ daughter. Both were close to ‘Pac.
In her support of the upcoming biopic of her late son, Afeni Shakur-Davis said, “I am confident that Morgan Creek will stay true to the common goal we share of depicting Tupac’s life in a way that will allow the world to see the authenticity of his artistry, his hopes, and his life goals.”
‘TUPAC’ will be produced by James G. Robinson, David Robinson and LT Hutton, and executive produced by Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur. The screenplay was written by Steve Bagatourian, Stephen J. Rivele & Christopher Wilkinson. Universal Pictures distributes in North America and co-distributes with Morgan Creek International overseas.
This wouldn’t be the first time a Tupac film has made the big screen. In 2003, Paramount Pictures released the documentary, ‘Tupac Resurrection,’ which was narrated by Tupac himself and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.
There have been 14 documentaries to date on the slain rapper.
In the 2009 feature film, ‘Notorious,’ which was based on the life on slain rapper, Christopher ‘Biggie Smalls’ Wallace, actor Anthony Mackie played the role of Tupac.
Mackie, who will next appear opposite Matt Damon in the sci-fi film, ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ made his professional acting debut when he first played Shakur on Off-Off Broadway (while still attending Juilliard) in 2001 in the play ‘Up Against the Wind.’
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Nevada. He was taken to the University Medical Center, where he died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest on September 13.
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