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Artist News
Writers hired for Tupac biopic
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 2 September 2010
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Stephen J Rivele and Chris Wilkinson, best known for their work on the ‘Ali’ and ‘Nixon’ biopics, have been hired to turn the story of Tupac Shakur into a movie. Due to be directed by Antoine Fuqua (‘The Replacement Killers’, ‘Training Day’), though with no cast yet in place, it’s rumoured that filming may be ready to begin in November.
Rivele told New York magazine: “I knew nothing about [Shakur prior to starting work on the script, but] it became clear [as I researched his life] that he was essentially a nineteenth century romantic poet who found himself in the 21st century”. We’re assuming he means ’20th century’ there, unless there’s a very big reveal at the end of this movie. He continues: “This is the story of an artist whose character is at odds with his medium. He was a really sensitive, very romantic, talented young poet who also could sing, dance, and act. But the realities [of hip hop] were that he had to create this persona of the gangster”.
He added that the script, which will completely replace an earlier version, will focus not on who shot Shakur dead in 1996, but why they would want to do such a thing to such a lovely bloke. Rivele continued: “He was obviously very angry, and had been subjected to a great deal of violence at home, in the streets and in prison. But he was just beginning to shed that anger and look for a purer voice… He was in the process of changing himself, and entering a new phase of his life – essentially a romantic vision – and had set up a new label, and a new production company to create it”.
Finally, Rivele said: “He saw the contradiction between the musical persona of ‘Thug Life,’ and his essential nature as a gentle, sensitive person. And that was partly responsible for his murder: He was not a gangster, but the people around him were. They saw he was going to leave, that they were going to lose him, and so I think they decided to kill him”.
