Steve McQueen, director for 12 Years A Slave, is set to direct a full-length feature documentary on the life of Tupac Shakur, according to Deadline.
“I am extremely moved and excited to be exploring the life and times of this legendary artist,” McQueen said. “I attended NYU film school in 1993 and can remember the unfolding hip-hop world and mine overlapping with Tupac’s through a mutual friend in a small way. Few, if any shined brighter than Tupac Shakur. I look forward to working closely with his family to tell the unvarnished story of this talented man.”
McQueen won the Oscar for the Best Picture for 12 Years A Slave and will direct the film.
The deal to release Tupac’s posthumous projects was struck between Estate trustee Tom Whalley and Amaru Entertainment, the company created by the rapper’s mother Afeni Shakur. The two entities teamed up with Nigel Sinclair’s White Horse Pictures and Jayson Jackson. Together, they will produce a fully authorized documentary about the life of late hip-hop icon.
The film will have the support of Interscope Records, which released most of Shakur’s catalog, and Universal Music Publishing Group, which means access to Tupac’s music. Tupac’s music sold over 75 million records worldwide and he recently became the first solo hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the April 7 ceremony where he was posthumously inducted with a musical tribute from Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys and T.I.
