It has recently been announced that a Tupac Shakur biopic will start shooting in Atlanta next year with Morgan Creek Productions and Emmett Furla Films co-financing its production. The biopic - Tupac - will be executive produced by Pac's mother Afeni Shakur (who is also set to produce a Tupac musical on Broadway) but just who will be playing the rapper is still unclear. Many critics are eager to see Michael B. Jordan in the leading role after his powerful performance in the award-winning film Fruitvale Station and it's not such a bad idea. It's a demanding role and the kind of complexity Jordan showed in the recent film is absolutely necessary for any actor hoping to play the part of the late rapper and frequent poet.
The news comes in a few days after the seventeenth anniversary of Tupac's murder. Known as one of the main instigators of the historical East-West Coast rap rivalry, the notorious West Coast rapper was gunned down in 1996 in Las Vegas. A major oddity of the shooting is that on a busy tourist location like the strip, no one can say with complete confidence what really happened nor has the killer been identified. The incident has led to endless conspiracy theories - one being that Tupac was put in the Witness Protection Program and is currently hiding somewhere in New Zealand. His murder, along with rival rapper's Notorious B.I.G., has yet to be solved causing many fans to believe that not only is he still alive but he also anticipated and staged the whole event. Whether or not these theories hold any validity, it is clear that Tupac has cemented himself in hip-hop folklore and history. Tupac's album sales have soared to 75 million records worldwide and has released more records after his death than while he was still alive (five albums when he was alive versus 15 posthumous releases.) Love for Tupac only seems to grow as the years add on. If his posthumous record sales are any indication of how well the movie will be received, then we could very well be looking at an award winner and at the very least a box office hit.
