S. Samuel
Rapper 50 Cent has been green lighted to star opposite Hollywood leading actress Meg Ryan in an upcoming film called Lives of the Saints.
According to reports, 50 will be one of many established actors featured in the flick.
50 has joined the cast of the ensemble drama Lives of the Saints, co-starring Meg Ryan, John Lithgow, Joe Anderson, and Kat Dennings, reports Variety. Written and directed by Chris Rossi, the film tells the story of “a group of Angelenos seeking redemption for past mistakes, only to find that forgiveness comes from unlikely places.” The flick, which begins shooting in Los Angeles on November 13, also features Kevin Zegers, Anthony Anderson, and Esai Morales. (Rap-Up)
Earlier this month, 50 made headlines after negotiating a $200 million agreement with Grindstone Entertainment/Lionsgate.
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Randall Emmett‘s Cheetah Vision and George Furla‘s Hedge Fund Film Partners are teaming on a 10-picture deal that’s backed by a $200 million fund. Grindstone Entertainment/Lionsgate will release the films. First film under the deal is the Curtis Jackson-toplined “Set Up,” written and directed by Mike Gunther. Paul Walker is in talks to star opposite Jackson in the heist actioner, which begins shooting next month and is budgeted at $20 million. “Set Up” revolves around a group of friends who are catapulted into the middle of a diamond heist turned deadly. Casting is under way for the other roles. HannibalPictures is handling international sales. (Variety)
Cheetah Vision’s Emmett also spoke on his confidence toward working with 50.
“The thing about ’50 Cent’ is that, just like in his music career, he isn’t someone who sits around and waits for things to get done. He came to me and said, ‘How do we move quicker on projects?’ With this new fund, we are able to do that,” Emmett said. (Statement)
Earlier this year, 50 talked about the backlash he has received for some of his films being released straight-to-DVD.
“They’ll spend a $120 million on a film or a whole bunch of money making a film and then a whole bunch of money promoting it a year before it actually comes out and the money they get back intheaters is just the money they spent,” 50 explained in an interview. “And then it goes straight-to-dvd and everything is profit there. Some of the movies I’ve done recently, I was financing and I’ve already seen a 60 percent return on what I’ve [been] involved with. They don’t understand, they’re looking at it and going, ‘Well, it went straight-to-dvd,’ and they don’t realize I’m gonna get another $800,000 off each one of these projects. You can sit there and say ‘It went straight-to-dvd’ my a** … They’ll try to figure a way to discredit whatever you do because I come from that. I have a lot, so I’m conditioned to the people who haven’t been through that and can’t get to the next level…If they look at their favorite artists, they don’t have an opportunity to be in a film…” (93.3 Tampa Bay Radio)
Check out a recent 50 Cent interview below:
