It looks as though the long anticipated biopic on legendary rapper Tupac Shakur will be moving ahead without director John Singleton.
According to a source with inside knowledge of the project, there has been an intense tug-of-war behind the scenes between Singleton and the film’s production company, Morgan Creek.
“There are major creative differences,” said the source. “Honestly, Morgan Creek can make a subpar Tupac movie and move on. If John Singleton makes a bad Tupac movie? It’s something he’d have to live with for the rest of his life.”
Singleton, who had the blessings of Shakur’s family in making the film, was friends with Shakur and even wrote the “hood classic”, Baby Boy with him in mind. Addressing his departure in an Instagram post, the director, who burst onto the scene in 1991 with the riveting Boyz N the Hood, alludes to his exit being about more than creative differences.
“The reason I am not making this picture is because the people involved aren’t really respectful of the legacy of Tupac Amaru Shakur,” Singleton said in the post.
Carl Franklin, perhaps best known for helming the 1995 Denzel Washington movie, Devil in a Blue Dress, has been tapped to replace Singleton in the director’s chair.
Written by Ed Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft, the biopic simply titled Tupac, is slated to begin filming later this year.
