Movement Made On Tupac Biopic & Nas TV Series

Fans of '90s hip hop will have a fair bit of exciting material to watch in the hopefully not too distant future, with movement being made on both a Tupac Shakur biopic and a TV series based on the early career of Nas.

The Tupac biopic has been mooted for a long time now and it always seemed kind of inevitable that it was going to happen at one time or another. Sure enough, this week it was announced that the masterful John Singleton who is best known as the director of 1991 film Boyz In The Hood – no, not Singo – would be rewriting, directing and producing the film.

He is a natural fit for the job, Singleton directed Shakur in the 1993 film Poetic Justice, which also featured Janet Jackson, and was a friend of the rapper, who was killed 18 years ago.

Speaking to Variety, Singleton said he had intended on pursuing a longterm profession relationship with Tupac and was gutted by his passing.

“Tupac was the guy who I planned to do a lifetime of films with,” Singleton said. “His passing deeply affected my life as well as countless people in this world. His life story is as important to my generation.”

Recent years have seen Singleton take on more mainstream projects such as 2 Fast 2 Furious and Abduction, while acting as producer on films like Black Snake Moan and Hustle & Flow.  Production on the film is scheduled to start in June, though there is still no word as to who will play Shakur.

In 2009 Notorious – a biopic about the life of Tupac's biggest rival, Notorious B.I.G., – was released, featuring Anthony Mackie in the role of Shakur.

We already knew there was a documentary in the works that would look at the making of Nas' Illmatic LP – which turns 20 this year – and the social surroundings that informed the making of the masterpiece, but it seems that won't be the last we see of the New York rapper on our screens coming up.

Xbox have reportedly begun to develop a new TV series called Street Dreams, which will be based on Nas' early career. Nas will be involved in the writing and the music for the show and his manager Anthony Seleh will be one of the executive producers.

Deadline Hollywood report that the series will feature half-hour episodes, will be set in the Long Island City Queensbridge housing complex, where Nas grew up, and will explore the protagonist's music, family and general goings on of the rap game at that point in time.