John Singleton Disses 2Pac’s ‘All Eyez On Me’ Biopic: ‘I Know That They F—ed it Up’
Fans have been waiting patiently for the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyes on Me to arrive in theaters. But there’s one person who won’t be checking for the film - veteran filmmaker John Singleton.
The director hasn’t watched the trailers for the 2Pac biopic and doesn’t have plans on watching the movie either.
“I haven’t watched it and I refuse to watch it,” Singleton told HipHopDX. “I know that they f---ed it up so I’m not even trying to give it any attention.”
For those who don’t know, Singleton was originally attached to direct the 2Pac biopic. The 48-year-old director developed a close relationship to Shakur while he was alive and was prepared to bring his life story to the big screen.
However, creative differences with the movie studio forced him to withdraw from the production altogether. During a Creative/Director conversation at ComplexCon over the weekend, Singleton told moderator Deray McKesson that studio executives weren't serious about telling 2Pac's real story.
“It’s not about just some rapper. It’s about a dude who was raised to be a revolutionary," he said. "He may not have been the next Malcolm X, but he had the potential to be a great leader in this country. He didn’t want that responsibility and was taken down by a lot of different forces that a lot of people really don’t know about.”
“I did the research which was talking to everyone around him who lived it and selectively piecing together their memories and my memories cause everyone wants to make Pac who they wanted them to be,” he added. “They want to make the Tupac story that involves them and not the Tupac story. I did a great script and I thought they were going to go forward with it, but because I’m so mouthy and opinionated, some people don’t like to work with a black man in Hollywood who has an opinion. I knew they weren’t going to make a good movie at all and they didn’t.”
While we understand Singleton's passion for his late close friend, we will reserve our judgement on the film until we actually see it.
However, we feel confident that Benny Boom and the cast, which includes Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tupac Shakur, made sure that All Eyez on Me will be a fitting tribute to the late rapper. Benny Boom is no slouch behind the camera, so we can expect big things from this film.
What do you think of John Singleton's remarks? Tell us in the comments below.