Entertainment
A True Crime Series About Tupac Is Coming
As it turns out, true crime stories are popular in Hollywood. Who knew? Kidding, of course. Anyone with access to cable knows that the genre has been dominating all types of media since Serial hit the zeitgeist with an unusual force (i.e. the force of Sarah Koenig's soothing voice). According to Deadline, USA Network is jumping on the true-crime wagon for the TV world, ordering a pilot for a TV series about the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. In case you weren't on board with the sound of that already, they've got someone influential in the genre backing it up. The pilot will be directed and executive produced by Anthony Hemingway, the director/executive producer of FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. You know, the Emmy award winning show that was one of the most talked about TV series of this past year.
Unsolved will be written by Kyle Long (Suits), and will be based on Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations, a tell-all book written by LAPD Detective Greg Kading. Kading will also consult on the pilot and be a co-exec producer, so the final result will have his touch as well as Hemingway's.
On September 1996, at the age of 25, Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. About seven months later, Biggie was shot and killed at the age of 24. The two deaths became worldwide news stories in the late '90s, and a discussion surrounding them has been building for over two decades. Naturally, TV and film have tried to find a place in that discussion. In this year alone, there's been the Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me that premiered on the 20th anniversary of his death, and the upcoming film, Labyrinth. The latter will chronicle both Biggie and Tupac's death and is based on the 2003 book of the same name.
Unsolved will be the latest true crime series to come to TV, but there are a few others on deck. After Ryan Murphy's Emmy-winning success with The People v. O.J. Simpson, two more seasons of American Crime Story have been picked up. Season 2 will cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and Season 3 will be based on the Versace murder. Along with those, NBC will also produce a series on the Menendez Brothers. But, if you're a true fan of true crime genre (see what I did there?), or Biggie and Tupac, or all three, definitely look out for Unsolved.
