According to Empire Online, just last month there were reports that John Singleton was having the chats with Ice Cube about directing the NWA movie Straight Outta Compton. But now, it seems Singleton has left that to one side. Not only was he chomping at the bit while New Line were said to be making a decision about the movie, there were also rumours that they'd jack him anyway and go with Footloose's director Craig Brewer. From Footloose to Compton, really?
Instead, Singleton has now hopped on board the Tupac Shakur biopic which was recently vacated by Antoine Fuqua. After struggling to find the perfect Tupac, despite most people pushing for Anthony Mackie to take the role, Fuqua's Pac(ked) it in (bad joke) and has started work on Hunter Killer. And should Singleton sign on the dotted line (he hasn't done that yet y'see,) there'll be no threat to his position here as he actually knew the gangster rapper and directed him in Poetic Justice in 1993.
As the case of Tupac's drive by murder back in 1996 remains unsolved, with various theories circling around and no official murderer identified, it'll be interesting to see how Singleton approaches the story, how he will balance what is fact and what remains unclear.
All that Empire have reported about the screenplay is that early versions of it were structured around Pac's time on Suge Knight's Death Row Records, with lengthy flashbacks to his earlier life and rise to stardom.
There is currently no official start date for the project.
