‘All Eyez on Me’ Trailer: Tupac Shakur Gets the Biopic Treatment
It’s almost crazy that it’s taken this long for Tupac Shakur to get his very own biopic, but after making a small cameo in Straight Outta Compton, the late, great rapper has finally gotten the feature-length attention he deserves. Today would have been Tupac’s 45th birthday, and to celebrate, the first teaser trailer for All Eyez on Me has arrived.
That voice you hear in the teaser is The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira, who plays Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur. If her powerful narration (and that scene with the cops) is any indication, then All Eyez on Me may very well be much better than this first preview implies. The trailer takes its time to build up to the reveal of Demetrius Shipp Jr. as the iconic rapper, teasing him out with shots of Tupac from behind — performing on stages, walking down hallways, etc. — and he certainly looks the part, at least.
He’s also surrounded by solid talent, including Gurira, Kat Graham and Dominic L. Santana. A few of the scenes are evocative of ’90s gang movies, but it’s difficult to tell if that aesthetic will work in the biopic’s favor. What the film does have going for it is the involvement of Afeni Shakur, which should help All Eyez on Me deliver a side of Tupac we haven’t really seen before.
All Eyez on Me was helmed by Benny Boom, best known for directing music videos and the 2009 film Next Day Air. The long-awaited Tupac biopic hits theaters this fall.