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Today marks the 20th anniversary of the fatal shooting of rap icon Tupac Shakur (he would die six days later…or so he'd like you to think), which means it's been two decades without a single arrest in the case, despite the fact that the murder occurred on the Vegas Strip outside of a friggin' Mike Tyson fight. So obviously, it seems like the ideal day to announce that a movie about the investigation into the alleged police coverup is heading into production.
The project is an adaptation of LAbyrinth, the 2002 book by Portland-based journalist and former Rolling Stone writer Randall Sullivan about Russell Poole, the late detective who became convinced that Death Row Records impresario Suge Knight orchestrated the killing of both Tupac and Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., with an assist from members of the Los Angeles Police Department. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will star Johnny Depp, whose resemblance to Poole is…uh, what's the opposite of uncanny? Bred Furman, who helped jumpstart the McConaissance with 2011's The Lincoln Lawyer, is slated to direct, with a script by Christian Contreras.
Related: "Portland Journalist Randall Sullivan Wrote the Book on the Conspiracy to Kill Tupac and Biggie."
When we spoke with Sullivan last week for an interview published in the current edition of Willamette Week, he hinted that an adaptation of his book was finally in works, but couldn't provide details. He also mentioned that he's considering writing a followup to LAbyrinth that will focus on what's transpired in the Tupac and Biggie investigations over the last decade and a half—including Poole's death last August from a heart attack as he was trying to convince the L.A. Sheriff's Department to reopen the case.
Willamette Week