New Tupac Shakur Project Takes to Crowdfunding to Raise $300,000

By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and ActMay 19, 2015 at 11:54AM

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What Tupac Shakur movie will cross the finish line first?

John Singleton was attached to direct the most high profile of existing projects, but, earlier this year, he exited, due to "creative differences" (to be succinct) with those of influence, who are involved. And he was replaced by Carl Franklin; although still no word on where the production stands. 

Singleton then vowed to make his own Tupac film, independently, promising something more reputable and true to the life of the slain rapper (given his personal relationship with him), than the studio-backed project he was to direct previously. No word on how far into the development process he is.

I should also mention that, a few years ago, it was revealed that Tupac wrote a screenplay before his death - the only one he ever penned - and rights to that screenplay were acquired by a production team that was planning to make a filmed version of it. Tupac is said to have worked on the script while he was in jail for a weapons charge, written over an 11-month sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., in 1995. In 2011, Preston Holmes and Ivan Juzang's NStar Studios (who collaborated with Shakur's mother to make documentary "Tupac: Resurrection"), acquired the rights to script, with plans to produce a film, on a budget of $11 million.

Titled, "Live 2 Tell," the script was to center on a teenage drug lord's efforts to leave the life of crime he leads. 

Not much else has been revealed about the project since then - notably, whether it's still alive.

And now there's this... 

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched by Gobi M. Rahimi, who directed and produced music videos for Tupac Shakur while he was at Death Row Records, to raise $300,000 which will go towards the production of a film that will tell "the true story of Tupac's last seven days."

Titled "7 Dayz," here's Rahimi's pitch:

"My name is Gobi M. Rahimi and I had the honor of directing and producing Tupac Shakur's music videos during his time at Death Row Records. A few weeks before Pac was shot, I wrote the letter that Tupac signed, firing Suge Knight and his lawyer David Kenner. After that, the tension between Tupac and his label soared to new heights. I was waiting for Tupac at club 662 in Las Vegas after the Mike Tyson fight on September 7, 1996. Soon after, I was informed by rapper Nate Dogg that Tupac and Suge Knight had been shot and taken to University Hospital. I immediately rushed there to be by Tupac’s side. This was the first of an emotional 7 days that I sat guard over Tupac who was in an induced coma, riding the line between life and death. '7Dayz' is the story of my experience at the hospital amidst death threats, undercover FBI informants and an uncooperative Police Department. I was inspired to tell this story because I believe that 'history is written by great people's contemporaries'. I was witness to Tupac's final days and I owe it to him and to the world to tell this story. Tupac taught me three fundamental truths. He proved day in and day out what it really means to be True to yourself and your calling. Pac showed me what its like to live life without any Limits. His Loyalty to his family, friends and co-workers taught me the true meaning of that word. Over the last twenty years it was these principles that kept me from selling my footage to the highest bidder and finding an honest way to bring his legacy to life. Tupac's final week reflects all of the racism and inequality that Baltimore and the likes of Trayvon Martin have been victims to. The powers that be don’t want us to make this film. We need your help!"

There's a lot more where that came from, starting with the video below. You'll find the campaign's Indiegogo campaign page here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/7-dayz#/story.