After Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious was a modest hit in January, a movie about his rival Tupac Shakur was inevitable. But according to a recent lawsuit filed by Tupac's mom, Afeni Shakur, Morgan Creek production company was so anxious to get the Shakur biopic going, they went back on a deal they'd made with her.
THR is reporting on the sordid details, which are included in Shakur's recent cross-complaint filed against the studio, asking for $10 million. Shakur's production company, Amaru Entertainment, was under the understanding that the deal was still in the works as of January, when Morgan Creek arranged a conference call to get the project going. Morgan Creek claims that Amaru backed out of a confirmed agreement.
Regardless of how this turns out, it seems pretty inevitable that a Tupac biopic will happen before too long. In fact, if it drags out for a while, the movie may be able to avoid the main pitfall of Notorious, which didn't have enough distance from its subject to have any real insight. Not that anyone involved actually wants this lawsuit to get uglier, but they may actually get a better movie out of this whole process.
