Diddy to produce Notorious B.I.G. film
The life and death of slain rapper Notorious BIG is to be brought to the big screen in a new biopic produced by hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, Variety reports.
The film will be made by Fox Searchlight films and directed by George Tillman Jr., who was the men behind the camera for the Barbershop films.
An open audition was called in the U.S. yesterday (August 12) for anyone resembling the rapper to submit an audition tape, whether an actor or not.
Tillman will direct from a script based on Cheo Hodari Cocker’s book Unbelievable: The Life, Death & Afterlife Of The Notorious B.I.G. It will be co-produced by Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace.
According to Variety, the film will focus on the side of the rapper “not seen in public life.”
Notorious BIG, real name Christopher Wallace, was shot dead in Los Angeles in March 1997.
His slaying has often been attributed to the intense rivalry between rappers on the western and eastern US coasts.
The murder, which remains unsolved, came six months after noted Notorious BIG rival Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas.
Shakur’s killers also remain at large.
