Twenty years ago, on the streets of Las Vegas, groundbreaking rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down as he drove away from a Mike Tyson boxing match. The crime remains unsolved. Appropriately enough, the upcoming movie detailing Tupac's troubled career, and his untimely death, dropped its first trailer and it is incendiary. Check out the latest footage from All Eyez on Me, the Tupac Shakur biopic (but know that it's NSFW, so don't press play if your bosses are around):
This isn't the first glimpse we have received of Demetrius Shipp Jr. as late rapper Tupac Shakur. Similarly, a teaser trailer was dropped on the anniversary of the artist's birthday, so the studio continues to pay tribute to the landmark dates in Tupac's history as they market what looks to be a gripping and powerful story of one man's troubled life. We praised him in our earlier coverage, but Shipp Jr. continues to look fantastic as Tupac Shakur, an aspiring gangster rapper who had to shoulder real expectations from the African-American community when he reached a certain level of fame... expectations that he didn't ask for, and didn't want to pursue.
Tupac's tragic life story should fuel a potent and explosive on-screen drama. Already, The Walking Dead actress Danai Gurira looks like a standout for her portrayal of Shakur's mother. And the nature of the true-crime mystery surrounding Shakur's murder -- seeing as how it likely was part of the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry that also claimed Biggie Smalls -- should add an intriguing element to the third act of All Eyez on Me.
There are still a lot of mysteries to be solved regarding the production of All Eyez on Me. The biopic passed through several hands before it finally landed in the lap of music director Benny Boom. Everyone from Antoine Fuqua to John Singleton entertained the thought of trying to bring Tupac's life to the silver screen.
And why not? The equally aggressive Straight Outta Compton -- an N.W.A biopic that briefly featured Tupac as a side character -- proved to be a massive box office hit in 2015, earning an impressive $201 million in worldwide ticket sales against a reported $28 million budget. Obviously, if you can deliver a compelling biopic of a popular rap artist, there's an audience in the fanbase that will flock to theaters to check it out.
But the story on All Eyez on Me has been difficult up to this point. Multiple directors passing on the project led to delays, as did a copyright issue that could prevent All Eyez on Me from using at least one of Tupac's most popular tracks. Having the music of N.W.A on the soundtrack helped make Compton such a huge hit. Could the opposite work against Tupac's movie? We'll know when the film comes out, though there's no release date to report on All Eyez on Me just yet. Stay tuned.
