Wu Tang Clan'sOl' Dirty Bastard has been considered for the biopic treatment for a while now, with the group's de facto leader RZA explaining in 2016 that discussions had taken place. After some silence regarding a possible movie based on the late rapper's life, the Hollywood Reporter has confirmed today that Sony's Columbia Pictures have begun development on an ODB biopic.
RZA is attached to produce the currently untitled project, although further details remain scarce. A search for a possible director has begun, however. In 2016, RZA revealed that he turned down the chance to direct such a film, explaining that he'd rather be involved in another, less substantial way.
ODB's became something of a folk hero in the last years of life thanks to his erratic personality. Throughout his career he experienced a number of legal troubles, and in 2000, he famously escaped his court-mandated drug treatment facility and was on the run as a fugitive. While on the run, he appeared onstage at the launch party for Wu-Tang's third album, The W, before being arrested outside a McDonald's a month after he was reported a fugitive.
His FBI file was released to the public in 2012, detailing his connections to numerous murders as well as a possible shootout with the NYPD. The rapper also reportedly suffered from schizophrenia. He died of an accidental drug overdose in 2004 after collapsing at RZA's recording studio in New York City.
ODB isn't the only rapper to have had a biopic announced recently: The Hollywood Reporter recently confirmed that Gucci Mane has a biopic in development at Paramount Pictures.
