The “Notorious” biopic of slain rapper Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G. wasn’t fantastic, but apparently did well enough to keep interest in the slain hip-hop star genre alive.
Now it’s time for Tupac Shakur — who had a small, but pivotal role in the Biggie story — and his fateful tale to receive its cinematic experience, but it appears it’s having trouble getting out the front door.
According to THR, Morgan Creek studios and the Shakur estate are at odds and scuffling over the rights to the story. Morgan Creek’s production banner has sued the company run by Afeni Shakur, the mother of the late rapper, claiming the company have had cold feet and backed out of an agreement to sell his life rights for a movie adaptation.
Negotiations began in November that saw Morgan Creek’s parent company, Rick Nicita productions owning the life rights to his story, and a contract was drawn up (life rights are integral to deals like this because they allow for the inclusion of the original music). But according to the complaint recently filed in courts, Afeni Shakur’s Amaru Entertainment is “refus(ing) to honor and perform a contract of a production of the film based on the life of Tupac Shakur.”
Tupac’s moms’ company says, no deal was ever in place. Apparently Amaru Entertainment was shopping the biopic around to Paramount and Fox and Morgan Creek wasn’t the only player in the mix. They claim they’re going to counter sue.
What does this all mean? We probably won’t see a Tupac Shakur biopic anytime soon. Shakur died in what many believe was a gang-related shooting in 1996.
