The director John Singleton has decided to walk away from an upcoming biopic of rapper Tupac Shakur, confirming his exit on Instagram.
The 47-year-old, who directed Boyz n the Hood, released a statement in which he criticised the people involved in the film for having a lack of respect towards Shakur, who was murdered in 1996.
“Tupac was much more than a hip-hop artist,” Singleton’s message said. “He was a black man guided by his passions ... Of most importance was his love of black people and culture ... Something the people involved in this movie know nothing about ... Real talk!”
He has since been replaced by Carl Franklin, the director of Devil in a Blue Dress, Out of Time and recent episodes of Homeland and House of Cards. But Singleton claims he will be making his own rival Tupac biopic.
“How you gonna make a movie about a man when you suing his mother to get the rights to tell his story?!” he continued. “They have no true love 4 Pac so this movie will not be made with love! And that’s why my ass isn’t involved! If Tupac knew what was going on he’d ride on all these fools and take it to the streets ... But I won’t do that ... I’ll just make my own project. What Yall think about that?!!”
At the age of 24, Singleton became the youngest person to ever receive an Oscar nomination for best director and also the first African-American nominee in the category.
He came back on board the Tupac biopic in 2014, after leaving it in 2012, intending to rewrite, produce and direct it . Shooting is scheduled to start in August or September with casting to be announced.
