Rather than a straight documentary style biopic, the Tupac Shakur biopic that is currently in pre-production will instead focus on more of the dramatic elements of his life including specific reasons why he was killed. The producers have officially signed on Oscar-nominated screenwriters Stephen J. Rivele and Chris Wilkinson who are no strangers to biopics having penned both Ali and Nixon. This just shows that the producers of this film are out to prove this as a critically acclaimed film and not just some cheap rendition of Pac’s life.

But Rivele says their goal is not to show who killed Shakur, but rather why anyone would want to. “He was obviously very angry, and had been subjected to a great deal of violence at home, in the streets and in prison,” says Rivele, “But he was just beginning to shed that anger and look for a purer voice…He was in the process of changing himself, and entering a new phase of his life — essentially a Romantic vision — and had set up a new label, and a new production company to create it. He saw the contradiction between the musical persona of ‘Thug Life,’ and his essential nature as a gentle, sensitive person. And that was partly responsible for his murder: He was not a gangster, but the people around him were. They saw he was going to leave, that they were going to lose him, and so I think they decided to kill him.”

The announcement of this writing team is a huge step forward for the Pac pic. As previously announced, Antoine Fuqua will be directing and is currently in the process of casting a relatively unknown actor for the lead role. More news to come. Via: Vulture NY Mag