Untitled Tupac Shakur Biopic (2012)

The characters of the upcoming Tupac Shakur biopic film have leaked online, and the film will feature
appearances from former Death Row Records owner Suge Knight and actress Jada Pinkett-Smith.

The Knight and Pinkett-Smith's roles will feature them during their youth.

Suge Knight: Early 30s, an enormous, intimidating, larger-than-life man with a stone countenance,
never seen without his jewel-encrusted Death Row medallion or his thuggish bodyguards (all of whom
are members of the Bloods), he's the CEO of Death Row Records. At times a fearsome figure, and at
other times a paternal, calming presence, Suge is proud of his authentic history.

Jada Pinkett: Long before she met and married Will Smith, Jada Pinkett was a classmate of Tupac's
at the Baltimore School of the Arts. A regal, stunning young woman (seen from the ages of 17 to
early 20s), she puts Tupac in his place for altering some of Hamlet's lines in a school production.
She encourages and supports his poetry, and tells him he was put on earth to change things. (Movie Hole)

An official film synopsis has also been revealed.

"The rise and fall of Tupac Shakur is chronicled, from his days attending the Baltimore School of the Arts
as a teenager, to his decision to leave his mother's dead-end life behind and embrace the Thug Life in
California, to his wild success as a rapper and his dangerous war against the East Coast scene. A true
poet who was waylaid by fame's trappings, his earliest ambition was to change the world and make a
difference in people's lives, and before his tragic murder in Las Vegas in 1996, that's exactly what 2Pac
did..." (Cinema Blend)

The movie project is reportedly set to begin filming this spring.

Antoine Fuqua's long-gestating Tupac Shakur bio-picture is April. Morgan Creek has it. Is there a leading
man yet? George Tillman's Biggie Smalls movie, Notorious, turned out terrific, though it wasn't a big money
maker. Casting Biggie was certainly tougher than finding somebody to play Tupac from age 17-25. Tupac
died in 1996, so how commercially viable he'd be in a big screen bio remains to be tested. His legacy is
secure, but will the kids come to a movie about him? (Orlando Sentinel)

Currently, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua is slated to direct the film.

"It looks like we're doing Tupac Shakur's movie next in September, that's what I've been starting up and
working on now," he said. "I've been working on that for a while with Morgan Creek and Jim Robinson. I
just got the greenlight from him and we're going in September. I've just started to prep that." Fuqua
added that he is hoping to find an unknown actor to portray the iconic hip-hop star, who was killed in
a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996. "That's the goal, I want to discover someone new," he
explained. "I want to discover a lot of new people if I can. Obviously I'm going to have to put some
people in it that you know, just because actors have different skills. I want to go to the streets and
find him anywhere he might be in the world." (Digital Spy)