Will Smith & Debbie Allen Working On S. Allen Counter Biopic

Debbie Allen and  Will Smith are also working together to do their part in a different way.  The two are working together on a biopic about modern day explorer and neuroscience professor Dr. S. Allen Counter.

Dr. Counter's story is one that is definitely worthy of being told. Dr. Counter is known for his work with rain forest descendants of the 17th and 18th century slaves from Africa. He's traveled throughout the world on scientific missions and has even created a documentary, I Shall Moulder Before I Shall Be Taken. Aside from this, he found descendants of Africa in the Andes in 1993 and this led to another doc, Lost Africans in the Andes. In addition, he has written "North Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo" and "I Sought My Brother: An Afro-American Reunion." Just a few of the many things he has done.

Dr. Counter has also done work in Haiti and is currently the director of the Harvard Foundation at Harvard University and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Debbie and Will are among the producers working on this project. There is no word as of yet regarding the actors set to star in the film.

Brooklyn Finest's Director Antoine Fuqua to Direct Tupac Shakur Biopic

In a recent interview with U.K.'s Digital Spy, director Antoine Fuqua mentioned that his next film will be a biopic on slain rap legend Tupac Shakur. Morgan Creek Productions will produce the film, with shooting to start in September.

"It looks like we're doing Tupac Shakur's movie next in September, that's what I've been starting up and working on now," he said. "I've been working on that for a while with Morgan Creek and Jim Robinson. I just got the green-light from him and we're going in September. I've just started to prep that."

At the present there is no actor listed yet to play Shakur. Fuqua has made it known that he hopes to find an unknown actor to portray the iconic hip-hop star, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996.

"That's the goal, I want to discover someone new," he explained. "I want to discover a lot of new people if I can. Obviously I'm going to have to put some people in it that you know, just because actors have different skills. I want to go to the streets and find him anywhere he might be in the world."

As an actor, Tupac appeared in notable films such as Juice, Poetic Justice, and Above the Rim.  In 2009's Notorious,' the biopic on Christopher "Notorious B.I.G" Wallace, actor Anthony Mackie played the role of Tupac.
 
I like the idea of an unknown to play Tupac. It will give us an opportunity to see what talent is out there. Will be keeping my eyes and ears open as we begin to hear more about this film.

Eddie Murphy Drops out of Richard Pryor Biopic

As many know, Eddie Murphy has always credited Richard Pryor as being his inspiration for getting into comedy. He pretty much did a perfect imitation of him in his concert film Raw, and even casted him in his directorial effort Harlem Nights. So it was just seem natural that he would star in the film about his idol's life.

So it was a big shock when Entertainment Weekly broke the story last week that Murphy was dropping out of the Pryor biopic. The movie, called "Richard Pryor: Is it Something I Said," will be written and directed by Bill Condon. Condon was also behind Dreamgirls, the 2006 musical that earned Murphy his only Oscar nomination. According to the report, Murphy left over conflicts with the project's original studio, Paramount Pictures.

Even more surprising is the identity of the star who is stepping into the role of Pryor: Marlon Wayans. EW.com reports that Wayans filmed a 13-minute screen test where he "transforms into Pryor" that secured the role for him.

While the movie will obviously have its share of comedy -- its producers include Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, along with Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee Pryor -- it will also tell the dramatic story of the comic's battles with drug addiction. There is no word yet if it goes into Pryor's later years when he was confined to a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis. The film is set to begin shooting in the spring.

*Reported by Entertainment Weekly

Biggie Biggie Give Me One More Chance!!

You know your movie has done well when you seen grown men come out of a movie theater teary-eyed. Notorious did just that!! After watching this film I could honestly say that this portrayal was "Amazing"! Notorious is a 2009 biopic film about the life of hip hop star Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls bka The Notorious B.I.G.

Biggie who, through raw talent and sheer determination, transforms himself from a Brooklyn street hustler to become the greatest rapper of all time. His story charts his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectation and redefines our notion of "The American Dream". (Fox Searchlight)

Each character in this film was able to shine and at the same time complement the main character of focus, the Notorious B.I.G. aka Christopher Wallace. Angela Bassett who plays Voletta Wallace, Biggie's mom does a outstanding job of showing the strong-willed, no-nonsense having mother. And even though she is not a Jamaican she was able to pull it off successfully with the accent. Next, Derek Luke (Sean "Diddy" Combs) will make you laugh and make you say wow, "I have a greater respect for Diddy and his craft. To be able to have something and lose it in an instance and then rise above it speaks volumes!! And I can't forget, Luke had them dance moves down to a tee, a mirror image. And last but certainly not least, Jamal "Gravy" Woolard who plays the Notorious B.I.G. That was Biggie on the screen, no doubt. His walk, his talk, his charisma, his mannerisms, NO ONE could tell me any different. It was so evident that its scary!! Every time he talked, walked, moved I got chills to my soul because it was just that REAL. To be able to encompass all that they did in the two and some change was truly a magnificent feat. Director George Tillman Jr. should be commended for the finished product of this film. All of the hype that came with this film was definitely worth, no disappointments on this end. Thank God there are still films that portray a true to life biopic story. Hip-hop lost a great soldier in the Notorious B.I.G. and the fact that his legacy lives on even almost twelve years later makes me give him mad respect as an artist and an individual.

" When you read magazines and you see everybody having fun, you think, 'okay, that's where I want to be.' But once you get in it and you achieve the sucess that you want, it seems like that's where the player hating starts. You know that's where everybody's like, 'Well it's not all that." -Notorious B.I.G.

This film reminds us that as easy as it is to get something it is even easier to lose it in an instance. All can say is "Where Brooklyn At?!!"


Grade: A