Training Day Director Antoine Fuqua Helming Tupac Biopic

As the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur’s infamous rap battle in the mid-90′s made them THE two most famous and beloved rappers of all time, it also spawned a slew of documentaries and TV specials chronicling their lives. It wasn’t until last year’s Notorious, that one of them was portrayed on the big screen by an actor in a studio-made feature film, that of course being Biggie. I thought that film was fantastic, mostly because of the near flawless performance by rookie actor Jamal Woolward. Now it looks as though Tupac will get his feature film due at the behest of Training Day director Antoin Fuqua.

According to Digital Spy (via FirstShowing), the Tupac biopic project was just recently green-lit by Morgan Creek Chairman James G. Robinson, with shooting set to begin in the next couple of months. And what is the best possible thing that could of happened with this project, in terms of casting, is happening, and that is casting an unknown actor to portray Tupac. Fuqua elaborated:

“That’s the goal, I want to discover someone new,” he explained. “I want to discover a lot of new people if I can. Obviously I’m going to have to put some people in it that you know, just because actors have different skills. I want to go to the streets and find him anywhere he might be in the world.”

Perfect mentality to have when trying to figure out how to approach a project like this. Tupac is one of the most iconic musicians/celebrities of the last 25 years. If they were to cast any established actor, it would ruin the experience for the view immediately because they wouldn’t be able to get past the fact that, “oh, that’s the guy from 8 Mile and The Hurt Locker;” as was the case of Tupac’s brief appearance in Notorious, by actor Anthony Mackie.

So, it seems as though Fuqua & Co. are on the right track. I’m a big fan of the glory days of rap, not this T-Pain/Drake shit, so I’m really excited to hear more about this project. And of course, you’ll hear about it the second I do, so stay tuned.

What Do You Think? Discuss.