WoooHa drops another exclusive as we have obtained the full legal documents to the current case between Afeni Shakur and Morgan Creek Entertainment. The cross complaint documents were just drafted two days ago by Afeni Shakur’s legal team who represents her company Amaru Entertainment (AE).¬†What we do know from the legal docs (obtained with permission from Shakur’s reps) is that Afeni Shakur had been looking for the right film studio partner to make her son’s movie since 1997:

That documentary of course was Tupac: Resurrection. The documents then go on about how due to the success of Tupac: Resurrection that Afeni reopened talks with studios in 2005 to finally produce the Tupac biopic. She talked with various studios including MTV Films, New Line Cinema, The Weinstein Company and Benderspink Productions but all to no avail. This is where it gets interesting. Get all the rest of the juicy details after the jump.

Although Afeni and AE had numerous talks with these various studios it ultimately led to conversations with Morgan Creek in 2008:

What is very clear in the entire twenty-seven page cross complaint is that Pac’s mother was VERY meticulous and careful in ensuring that her son’s life was portrayed the correct way and made by a production team that truly understood what Tupac meant to her and to the world. The document goes on to mention how Morgan Creek entered the discussions in 2008 as both sides negotiated deal points in a draft but still no verbal or written agreement or approval to move forward. But finally, only after Notorious opened well did Morgan Creek say they agreed to the terms and that it was binding. Amura Entartinament argues they never had any such agreement:

So that’s where we stand now. Both sides with different stories, and what you read was Amura Entertainment’s side. The case is still being battled out and who knows when it will end. Other intersting things that came out of the documents though were:

  • Jaime Foxx and his production team were in talks to produce the movie
  • Bret Ratner (Rush Hour franchise) really wanted to land this deal and was in talks
  • Antoine Fuqua (producer & director of Training Day) was also in talks with Shakur

Interesting indeed. I hope for Tupac’s sake and for his family that they get to make this movie with who they want and how they want. If this movie is going to be made, and it looks like eventually it will, it needs to be made the right way. Peace. Droppin more WoooHa.com exclusives soon so stay tuned.