Antoine Fuqua To (Finally) Get Started On His Tupac Shakur Biopic

Looks like it's going to be a hot summer for hip-hop movie fans. We've already seen Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace's story in George Tillman Jr.'s 2009 biopic, Notorious, but now, after extensive delays, it's finally Tupac Shakur's turn. Deadline reports, via a Morgan Creek Productions-issued press release, that principal photography on Antoine Fuqua's (Training Day, Brooklyn's Finest) 2Pac biopic will begin in late spring/early summer. 

Screenwriters Steve Bagatourian (American Gun), Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson (the latter two co-wrote Ali) will "chronicle the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist and actor, as well as his imprisonment and prolific controversial time at Death Row Records, where he was steeped in East coast/West coast rap war." While the subject is dynamic in and of itself, it'll be hard to cast an actor with enough California Love to fill the part. Pac's mother, Afeni Shakur-Davis, is on board as an executive producer, and says, "I am confident that [production company] Morgan Creek will stay true to the common goal we share of depictuing Tupac's life in a way that will allow the world to see the authenticity of his artistry, his hopes, and his life goals."

The sad part to this otherwise stellar news is that the still unsolved murder of Tupac Amaru Shakur is a fact. Filming of the currently untitled screenplay will take place in Los Angeles, New York, Georgia, and Las Vegas.