Tupac's alive!!! Sorta. Antoine Fuqua signs Pay-or-Play deal for Tupac biopic

It's like dude never left. Ever since controversial rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down back in 1996, there have been rumors floating around that he never actually died. Some say he's sitting on a deserted tropical island somewhere sharing pina coladas with Biggie Smalls. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but the fact that 9(!!!!) albums have come out since Tupac's death certainly isn't going to silent the tin foil hat wearing crowd. Well, as of this morning I can confidently state that Tupac is alive and kicking.  Well, at least his biopic is.

For months Antoine Fuqua(Training Day) had been prepping a biopic of Tupac's turbulent life and rap career. A nation wide casting search was launched to find someone to embody the charismatic rapper. Nothing seemed to come of it, though, and we didn't hear anything for awhile even though Fuqua's name was attached to numerous other projects. Then last week we learned that Fuqua had signed on to direct a boxing drama starring hip hopper and tabloid favorite, Eminem. The assumption was that the Tupac film was dead. Well, not so fast.  24 Frames reports that Fuqua has signed a "Pay or Play" deal with Morgan Creek for the project. Basically that means Fuqua will get paid no matter what, whether the film gets made or not.  Obviously this is the studio's way of showing their devotion to the film and to Fuqua in particular because why would they want to throw money away?

So it looks like Fuqua will be the rapper's choice for flicks in the coming year, as he'll likely helm both the Eminem and Tupac pics. Now all they need to do is find a lead actor.