Open Road Films has acquired the rights to the long-awaited Tupac biopic from director John Singleton and writers Jeremy Haft and Ed Gonzalez. The film follows the life story of rap icon Tupac Shakur, from his early days in East Harlem to the height of his visibility during the east coast/west coast hip-hop beef and his untimely death in 1996 on the Las Vegas strip. The film produced and financed by Morgan Creek Productions and Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films brings John Singleton's relationship with Shakur full circle as he helms a project that brings Pac to the screen once again; Singleton directed Shakur, who played one of the leads in the celebrated 1993 cult classic Poetic Justice. Singleton will produce the film alongside James G. Robinson, David Robinson, L.T. Hutton, George Furla, Randall Emmett, Tom Ortenberg, Peter Lawson and Afeni Shakur. Open Road Films has reportedly committed to a wide-screen release of the film in at least 2000 theaters. Casting will begin shortly for the production, which is slated to start production this summer in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.
Spotted at DL.
