For years, now, various parties have attempted to produce a film centered on the short life and extravagant career of Tupac Shakur, both the most acclaimed rapper of his era and, by certain estimates, the very greatest who’s ever spit into a mic. The deals have never come through, though — as the lack of results would ever-so-plainly illustrate — but it’s neither not for wont of effort nor some larger, more elusive reason for being. A story is there, but the storytellers have been strangely absent.
In this case, business is giving art a boost. It’s been announced that Morgan Creek and Emmett/Furla are moving ahead, fully, on a revitalized version of the same project that’s been kicking around for a bit, with Afeni Shakur, the performer’s mother, producing — her involvement being rather significant when it grants this team the rights to an extensive back catalog — for a February start. Creatively, things are less certain: scribes Ed Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft (Street Kings 2: Motor City, recently released by Masters of Cinema) are expected to deliver a new draft in a couple of weeks, but no star or director has yet been nabbed — so, start your fantasy casting now. Might John Singleton, attached at the beginning of this year, make the time? Whether he accepts or declines, we should soon see a team in place.
Does Tupac’s life warrant the cinematic treatment? Does anything about this first news provide any encouragement?