Producer LT Hutton says that the The Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious, which was released in 2009, was not as good as it could have been.
“This is not a knock to those who made that movie or the studio that was involved, but I personally feel from knowing Big, and knowing Puff [Daddy], that movie was watered down,” says LT Hutton, who is producing the forthcoming Tupac biopic directed by John Singleton and executive produced by Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, during and interview with Life + Times. “Puff is a branding genius, and that movie made it seem much less than what it was. Biggie is one of the greatest lyricists of all time, and they stole those moments and turned them into goofball stuff. For Hip Hop, and for what Biggie deserved, I just feel they could have done a better service. And if that meant slowing the process down, and taking the proper time to do it, then so be it. “
LT Hutton, who worked with Tupac and says he knew the late rapper closely, is working with Afeni Shakur on the film, which he says is slated for a 2015 release.
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“She has full say over most of everything that goes into it,” LT Hutton says. “If it were random executives doing this movie simply for monetary gains then you’d have something to worry about here. There is no way I would let this film go out without doing the greatest service that I possibly could do for the respect of the culture and this man. He spent his life fighting for this and now I fight for him.”
LT Hutton Says Tupac Had “Fire Burning Inside”
LT Hutton says that Tupac became frustrated that he couldn’t spread his message while he was incarcerated in the mid-1990s
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“He couldn’t be heard,” LT Hutton says. “And everyone that knew him or researched him enough knows ‘Pac always had to have the crowd. He had to have the audience. He was talking at all times. His voice was the loudest thing in the room at all times. And in prison, he lost that voice. In this movie we’re dealing with all of this, with the making of this man. What made him tick, what drove him, what was that fire burning inside of him to make him work like an animal. The timeframe he was on. I asked him one time, ‘What are you racing?’ He simply said, ‘I have to get the work done.’ So when everything happened, it made sense. He knew he was on limited time here. With this movie, we’re on the same time clock. We want people on the edge of their seats enjoying every moment. It will be a huge rush, believe me.”
In February, it was announced that John Singleton has signed on to re-write, direct and produce the forthcoming biopic on Tupac Shakur.
The film from the director of Boyz N The Hood and 2 Fast 2 Furious is slated to include Tupac’s rise to one of Rap’s biggest acts, as well as his still-unsolved murder in 1996.
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Singleton directed Tupac in the 1993 film Poetic Justice, which also features Janet Jackson.
In September, it was announced that Morgan Creek Productions and Emmett Furla Films were in final negotiations to partner on a Tupac biopic.
A press release from the two companies announced that the biopic would be produced by James G. Robinson, David Robinson and LT Hutton, among others.
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