Tupac: Assassination

Tupac Assassination: Conspiracy or Revenge is a documentary film about the unsolved murder of rapper Tupac Shakur produced by Frank Alexander, a Shakur bodyguard who was with the rapper at the time of the shooting, produced and directed by Richard Bond. The film was released October 23, 2007 on DVD.^[1]

Storyline

The film is a series of interviews with key players and witnesses, as well as what the producer told Rolling Stone magazine were experts in the fields of law enforcement and rap.^[2]

Suge Knight owed artists over $104 million and Shakur was threatening to take his masters and leave Death Row after the last album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.

According to former bodyguards who heard this altercation between Tupac and Suge, they didn't realize at the time what Reggie was planning even when he was demanding that all bodyguards leave their weapons, now reassigning normal Tupac bodyguards elsewhere (leaving Tupac with only Frank) and taking their communication devices, although this is contradicted by bodyguard Frank Alexander’s previous statements that he did have his gun in his car.

Bodyguard Michael Moore refused to give up his weapon and said on film that it was Kevin Hackie (former Compton PD) who had his cell that night. However, in Frank’s book Got Your Back, Frank said the bodyguards were told not to have their guns only at Club 662 in fear the authorities may shut the club down, but was told they could have their guns in their hotel rooms or cars.

Frank said in an interview with HitEmUp.com in January, 2002, “We were told to either leave them in our room or leave them in our car. And me, knowing I was going to the club, stuck my gun in my car up under the seat 'cause that's where I was gonna go and park my car in the front.”

“I think they removed me [from guarding Tupac] because I wouldn't let them take away my weapon,” Moore said about why on the day of Tupac's murder he was reassigned to Club 662. “I told Tupac…and walked him to his room. I didn't want to leave him (I was the only one with a weapon) and at first I was going to stay, but the club kept calling me. I said, 'its 8 p.m. and I'm not due until 11 p.m. don't call me no more. Then Reggie [head of Wrightway Protective Services] called, so I went.”

In the film, Michael Moore expressed his frustration at the time, saying, “Why would I leave my weapon and I'm guarding the biggest rapper in the world.' I said, 'I'm not taking my weapon away for no one!”

Shortly after bodyguard Moore left Tupac in the Vegas hotel, Tupac got into a car driven by Suge Knight (which they said he never does) and while waiting at a light (boxed in at the left by Trevon Lane, boxed in the back by Frank's car and to the right by the killers car) the killer(s) shot him .

Cast

The cast includes Cathy Scott, author of The Killing of Tupac Shakur,^[3] Mopreme Shakur, Tupac's stepbrother, bodyguard Michael Moore, Brent Becker, a Las Vegas police detective, and Donald Erath Jr., a Los Angeles Police Department investigator.

Post-release

Press screening controversy

A. Reggie Wright also told AllHipHop.com, “The reason 'Pac is dead is because Frank Alexander, the guy who wrote and produced this new DVD failed to bodyguard 'Pac properly on the night he was shot.” “Kevin [Hackie] and Frank [Alexander] ought to be ashamed of themselves. The truth is these guys had almost nothing to do with 'Pac's life, but they never cease to come up with new ways to exploit his death for profit or fame.”^[4]

Legal issues surrounding distribution

In early 2008, the producers sued the label Eyecon Enterprises for non-payment of royalties. Eyecon had secured $75,000 in advances from Liberation Entertainment before the movie was released and never told the producers. Eyecon and its founder Stephanie "Bright" Riley also took $135,000 from Philadelpia Phillies Shortstop Jimmy Rollins for what he was told was "production costs" related to Tupac Assassination. Rollins received a $200,000 court judgment against Riley and Eyecon and the distribution agreement was voided by the court. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Camelot Entertainment and Incentive Capital released assumed claims of movie license.^[5] However the producers of the movie still maintain copyright and currently have a digital distribution deal with Cinedigm, formerly New Video.

Sequel

Tupac: Assassination II: Reckoning was released on January 27, 2009. The movie features Gloria Cox, Shakur's Aunt, Leila Steinberg, Shakur's manager, and Tracey Robinson, his video producer.

References

External links

• Official website
• Tupac: Assassination at the Internet Movie Database