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

• Even before the film had been released, at the press screening of the film, breaking news sparked regarding Death Row and the death of Tupac Shakur. Former bodyguard Kevin Hackie, admitted while working at Death Row Records prior to the murder of Tupac that he was an FBI informant and even went further and stated "an arrest will be made in this case", which has yet to happen.

• Kevin Hackie issued a challenge to Reggie Wright, he set up Tupac's death.

• Kevin Hackie has offered Wright $100,000 to take a lie detector test to prove he had nothing to do with Shakur’s still unsolved murder. Due to high tensions rising Wright in an unwilling manner agreed to the test.

• Wright, who has been investigated by the FBI and officially cleared of any wrongdoing, has accepted the challenge, telling AllHipHop.com:

“The day Kevin Hackie puts up the money to pay for a reputable board-licensed polygrapher to conduct a lie detector test for him and I, people will find out who the liar is.” Wright also told AllHipHop.com in a statement, “I had nothing to do with 'Pac's death.”

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]

Criticism

Critics of the film point to the inconsistencies previously told by Frank Alexander in his book Got Your Back and previous Tupac DVD Before I Wake.... Alexander said in his book that “I personally don’t believe Suge put the hit on pacs baws”, and that the reason he didn’t have his gun was because he left it in his car, rather than being ordered not to have it. This misunderstanding stems from the lack of clarity of Alexander.

Both are true; he was told not to carry a weapon, but like Michael Moore, he intended to disregard that order and keep his weapon within feet of him (his car was usually parked next to the door) while working at 662 after the fight. Alexander left the weapon in the car, which was parked on the other side of the Luxor casino- a 45-minute round trip hike. Because of the Anderson altercation, the crew was in a hurry to leave and Alexander was never able to get back to his car.

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 Phildelpia 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.

Tupac Reckoning

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

• Tupac: Assassination at the Internet Movie Database
• Tupac Assassination - Revelation Dvd Review
• Official Site
• MTV Reviews TA:I
• Music.com Special
• Fox News special
• Kevin Hackie Challenge
• First Web Article
• Fan Review
• Number 4 hottest movie, Aug 2008
• After Screening Controversy