S. Samuel
The life story of late rapper Tupac Shakur will be resurrected in a new book written by hip-hop journalist Kevin Powell entitled, Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography.
Details on the forthcoming project hit the Internet this week.
Famed activist and former VIBE magazine senior writer Kevin Powell, will bring his history and archived interviews with Tupac Shakur to life when he releases the late rapper’s authorized biography. Powell has just signed a two-book deal with publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster. The first will be Kevin’s long-awaited memoir, the boy with a mother and no father, due in stores Fall 2012. Immediately following the completion of his memoir, Kevin will embark on Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography. (Hip Hop Wired)
Tupac’s mother, Afeni, and Powell have released statements confirming the book’s progression.
“Kevin Powell is doing this Tupac Shakur biography with my full blessings,” she said in a statement. “I trust him and his history of documenting my son’s life, and I know he will do the book from his heart.” When talking about his interest in the project, Powell said, “It is an honor to write what will be the definitive biography on the life and times of Tupac Shakur, one of the greatest icons in hip-hop and pop culture history.” (XXL Mag)
Information on a 2Pac biopic being in the works landed online over the summer.
Oscar-nominated screenwriters Stephen J. Rivele and Chris Wilkinson (Ali, Nixon) have just been hired to write the Tupac Shakur biopic, which means the Antoine Fuqua-directed film could begin shooting by mid-November. (No cast yet; Fuqua is looking for an unknown to play the late rapper.) While the writing partners are known for adapting true lives and stories — they also worked on the Moneyball script, and an upcoming Jackie Robinson story — Wilkinson tells Vulture that the key to this script is an approach that “is not in any way biopic-y.” That’s a big change in direction for the project. An initial draft written by Steven Bagatourian (2005’s American Gun) was largely documentary in style, simply laying out the facts of the slain rapper-poet-actor’s brief 25-year life. But Wilkinson says that their script will center on the last day of Tupac’s life, flashing back to show the final four years leading up to it. (NY Mag)
Training Day and Brooklyn’s Finest director Antoine Fuqua is expected to direct the project.
“It looks like we’re doing Tupac Shakur’s movie next in September, that’s what I’ve been starting up and working on now,” he said. “I’ve been working on that for a while with Morgan Creek and Jim Robinson. I just got the greenlight from him and we’re going in September. I’ve just started to prep that.” Fuqua added that he is hoping to find an unknown actor to portray the iconic hip-hop star, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996. “That’s the goal, I want to discover someone new,” he explained. “I want to discover a lot of new people if I can. Obviously I’m going to have to put some people in it that you know, just because actors have different skills. I want to go to the streets and find him anywhere he might be in the world.” (Digital Spy)
No further details have been revealed as of now.
Check out a past Tupac Shakur interview down below:
