Filed under: Movies
From The Los Angeles Times
As recently as last month, 'Training Day' director Antoine Fuqua was slated to direct a biopic about the life of Tupac Shakur. Now 24 Frames has learned that the director has stepped away from that film and is instead poised to join a movie that revolves around a different hip-hop artist: Eminem.
Fuqua is set to come aboard 'Southpaw,' a fictional boxing drama written and conceived by 'Sons of Anarchy' creator Kurt Sutter and starring the Detroit rapper, said a source briefed on the film who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about it publicly. The DreamWorks film aims to shoot later this year. Fuqua has no formal deal in place as yet. [Update, 6:52 p.m.: A person close to Fuqua said the two still must work out a number of deal points.]
A studio spokeswoman declined comment.
The project's progress is good news for fans of Eminem, who received acclaim for his turn as a talented rapper in 2002's "8 Mile" but has not taken a lead movie part since. The man born Marshall Mathers does have a propensity for working with top-tier filmmakers: "8 Mile" was directed by Curtis Hanson, and Eminem also appeared in this year's well-regarded Chrysler Super Bowl spot, which was helmed by decorated music-video director Samuel Bayer.
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