It looks like we’re in for a couple of years of Tupac Shakur appreciation. This summer, the late iconic rapper gets the biopic treatment with “All Eyez On Me” which looks….serviceable. But the project that we’d bet will be the authoritative take on the rapper’s life, career, and legacy will be the one coming from Steve McQueen.
The director of “Hunger,” “Shame,” and “12 Years A Slave,” will helm a documentary about Shakur, with Gloria Cox, Tupac Shakur’s aunt and Afeni Shakur’s only sister, among the producers. And Cox promises it’ll deliver the bottom line about the rapper.
“I am happy to see this project come to life. This was something that my nephew (Tupac) was very passionate about creating in 1996, and my sister (Afeni) since before her passing this last May. It has been a long journey to get here,” she said. “I feel like we have a team she (Afeni) would be very pleased with. It has never been our intention to rewrite the story of Tupac. Our goal has always been to tell the true story, which has never been done before in such a complete way. My sister always said to me, ‘We are not in the business of defending Tupac. Our job is to allow him to be seen in the most complete way, so his actions, his choices, and his words will allow him to speak for himself.’ I believe this film will do exactly that.”
“I am extremely moved and excited to be exploring the life and times of this legendary artist,” McQueen added. “I attended NYU film school in 1993 and can remember the unfolding hip-hop world and mine overlapping with Tupac’s through a mutual friend in a small way. Few, if any shined brighter than Tupac Shakur. I look forward to working closely with his family to tell the unvarnished story of this talented man.”
Promising stuff, but first on McQueen’s plate is the crime thriller “Widows” starring Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, and many more, which starts filming soon.