Cyrus Langhorne
Diehard Tupac Shakur fans have the chance to watch never-before-seen footage of the late hip-hop icon thanks to video director Gobi Rahimi who is raising funds for a new biopic.
According to reports, Rahimi is seeking around $300,000 to help tell Pac’s untold story.
A filmmaker who was with Tupac Shakur at the time he was shot is now seeking funds to make a movie about the rapper’s final week. Director Gobi M. Rahimi – who helmed the music videos for “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” among others – wants to raise $300,000 to prevent his movie, 7 Dayz, “from becoming another watered down Hollywood film,” according to the project’s IndieGogo page. The feature film will also incorporate rare, actual footage of the rapper. (Rolling Stone)
Last month, reports claimed creative differences ultimately sparked a separate Tupac biopic to lose its director, John Singleton.
“There are major creative differences,” an individual with knowledge of the project said. “Honestly, Morgan Creek can make a sub-par Tupac movie and move on. If John Singleton makes a bad Tupac movie? It’s something he’d have to live with for the rest of his life.” Carl Franklin, who directed Denzel Washington in 1995’s “Devil in a Blue Dress,” will replace Singleton, TheWrap has learned. Franklin is repped by Paradigm, Anonymous Content and attorney Lawrence Rose. (The Wrap)
A couple years ago, reports claimed the biopic project’s financial woes had been resolved courtesy of some big contributions.
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 had not been revealed, iniitial plans were 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)
