S. Samuel
Late music icon Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni, is reportedly seeking legal action to snatch up over $1 million over a posthumous album filled with her son's music.
According to reports, Afeni is taking direct aim at Entertainment One (formerly Koch) over a 2007 release.
You haven’t met a protective mother until you’ve met Tupac’s mom … she’s now suing over unpaid royalties stemming from the late rapper’s posthumous album … to the tune of $1.1 million. Afeni Shakur — the co-administrator of Tupac’s estate — filed the lawsuit against a company called Entertainment One, claiming it breached a contract to pay Tupac’s estate royalties on “Beginnings: The Lost Tapes,” which was released in June 2007. (TMZ)
Along with the big payout, Shakur’s mother also wants her son’s master recordings.
According to the suit, E1 purchased the rights to Tupac’s music (previously owned by Death Row Records) in July. FYI, Death Row went bankrupt in 2006. Afeni claims E1 now owes Tupac’s estate $1.1 million … and it better pony up fast. She also wants E1 to hand over the master recordings of all Tupac’s unreleased music. Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned. Calls to E1 weren’t returned. (TMZ)
The suit comes in light of a long awaited Pac biopic finally receiving the green light.
Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films is teaming with Morgan Creek Productions to co-finance and co-produce Tupac, creating a new urgency for the long-gestating biopic on the hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur. They are working with a script by Eddie Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft, and a new draft is expected in two weeks. Several companies battled for the rights to partner on the film with Jim Robinson‘s Morgan Creek before MCP president David Robinson sealed the deal with EFO. They are eyeing a February start date and a $45 million budget. They have the rights to exploit Tupac’s musical catalog, and his mother, Afeni Shakur, will be a producer on the film. (Deadline)
Although an exact start date has not yet been revealed, plans are for filming to begin in Atlanta.
The movie has nearly come together in several previous incarnations with numerous directors and actors circling. Now that the money is in place, they will set a filmmaker quickly and begin casting up the film. They haven’t decided on whether to get an established young actor to play the rapper, or to make a discovery. UPDATE: Morgan Creek has confirmed Deadline’s report in a news release. It added that LT Hutton also is aboard as a producer and that the film will shoot in Atlanta. (Deadline)
