S. Samuel
After years of being in the works, plans for a long-awaited Tupac Shakur biopic to finally get off the ground have surfaced with filming slated to begin in the near future.
Barring any setbacks, reports claim the film’s cameras will start rolling next year.
After a long wait, the Tupac biopic is set to start rolling in 2014. As the date was confirmed by producer Randall Emmet at a reception held by the film’s production companies last week, the Tupac movie is finally trekking its trail to theaters. After a lengthy battle between Morgan Creek, the film’s production company and Pac’s mother Afeni Shakur, both parties have decided to burry the hatchet and move on with the project. As the parties began disputing over the the biopic’s creative control, the lawsuit was eventually settled out of court with Afeni adapting the role of executive producer. The film’s cast has not been unveiled yet. (XXL Mag)
Back in September, the project’s money problem had reportedly 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)
Initial reports suggested the filming would take place 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)
Earlier this year, movie director Antoine Fuqua said he was still up for the project, however, admitted there was no script in place.
There were various start dates also mentioned for a biopic about late rapper Tupac Shakur, and while that project vanished from sight, Fuqua claims the project is fully funded, but still suffering from script complications. “It was announced too soon,” Fuqua lamented. “I have a deal for Tupac, but the script is not there yet, and its being worked on. Somehow someone started talking about it, it got out there and went crazy, but it was always a situation of, let’s make sure we have a great script, and get it right.” When asked what the story would deal with, Fuqua promises a focus on, “the last few days, that trip from LA to Vegas, and where his head was during that journey.” (The Playlist)
Back in summer 2011, Atlanta rapper Soulja Boy said Pac’s mother motivated him to consider reading for the role.
“How that whole thing came about, I was doing the ‘Juice’ mixtape and that got out. I’m with William Morris Agency and they sent me an email, the subject was ‘Tupac,’ so I clicked on it,” Soulja Boy explained in an interview. “They were interested in having me for the role. I told them I was going to let them know. After that, I got this offer for this part for this movie called ‘Officer Down’ so I’ve been here in Connecticut [shooting]. I was on set with this actor Stephen Dorff and he was like, ‘Yeah man, you should do that [play Tupac].’ This is like really my first big movie, Lionsgate Films in theaters where people are going to see me acting. I was kind of hesitant [to audition for the Tupac film] but they told me that Tupac’s mom is on board with the movie. That was one of the things that I was like, ‘Hey, as long as his moms is cool with it I can consider it.'” (The Boom Box)
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