While he’s currently set to begin shooting his next drama Widows this summer, acclaimed filmmaker Steve McQueen has set his sights on helming a documentary about the life of hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur. Per Deadline, the doc is fully authorized by Shakur’s mother Afeni Shakur. “I am extremely moved and excited to be exploring the life and times of this legendary artist,” said McQueen. “I attended NYU film school in 1993 and can remember the unfolding hip-hop world and mine overlapping with Tupac’s through a mutual friend in a small way. Few, if any shined brighter than Tupac Shakur. I look forward to working closely with his family to tell the unvarnished story of this talented man.”
Shakur’s recording career was brief, lasting only five years before his murder in 1996, yet the artist’s legacy has continued to thrive, selling 75 million records worldwide. Last month, Shakur became the first solo hip-hop artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The artist also appeared in several films, including Juice, Poetic Justice and Gridlock’d. McQueen’s recently announced documentary isn’t the only Tupac film on the horizon: All Eyez on Me, a biopic starring Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Shakur, opens in theaters June 16.
McQueen, the Academy Award-winning director behind Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave, is currently in pre-production on Widows, a heist thriller starring Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, André Holland, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson.