Now is probably as good a time as any for this to happen, given how much hip-hop-related stories seem to be in vogue currently, thanks in part to the mega success of "Straight Outta Compton," and we could also even throw the TV show "Empire" into the mix of influences.
Speaking to Vibe magazine in a video interview, Ja Rule shared that a drama series based on Murder Inc. Records (formerly The Inc. Records), the record label, owned by Irv Gotti, is currently in development.
He doesn’t share much in terms of specifics, but does say that Paramount studios is on-board, and suggests that the project is being shopped to one of the premium cable TV networks (like HBO, Showtime, etc), where the series will be able to be as raw and gritty as it needs to be to really tell the Murder Inc. story.
The video interview follows below.
This project, assuming every single one of them actually is produced, joins a growing list of hip-hip-related films and TV series/movies that are at some stage of development/production currently. Follow the bouncing ball: A film based on Russell Simmons’ 2002 book "Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, + God," which documents his journey, chronicling his numerous business successes and occasional failures, including the founding of the legendary Def Jam Records, whose roster included rap icons like L.L. Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys; there’s also a Death Row Records film, with talent agency APA said to be shopping the project around, which will be titled "Welcome to Death Row," and will focus on the years after N.W.A formed, and all the acts that came after them, forging their own solo careers – rappers like Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, the aforementioned Dogg Pound and others; There’s also an upcoming Dogg Pound biopic, which, formed in 1992, is made up of West Coast rappers Daz Dillinger and Kurupt, who were signed to Dr Dre’s Death Row Records early in their careers, and played a part in the label’s success. There was talk of a film that would tell the combined stories of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and Tha Dogg Pound – rumors fueled by Dogg Pound member, Daz Dillinger, who told TMZ in an interview 2 months ago that it was definitely happening; A Gang Starr film is also a possibility; DJ Premier said he was working on; There’s the Seith Mann-directed VH1 original movie, "The Breaks," set in New York City in 1990, and chronicles the journey of three friends united by their love of hip-hop, as they work to make their big mark in the music industry; And there’s a biopic on the late Sugar Hill Records co-founder Sylvia Robinson, a singer, songwriter and record producer, who formed the pioneering hip-hop group Sugarhill Gang and made the first commercially successful rap recording with them; And also Chuck D suggested that he would entertain the idea of a Public Enemy bio; and the long-in-development Tupac Shakur project looks like it’s alive again, given a recent casting notice I shared on this blog 2 months ago, which indicated Carl Franklin was attached to direct, and an actor to play the lead role was being sought; also Master P. has teamed up with Queen Latifah and her Flavor Unit production company, to produce a film on his life.
And I’m sure there are (or will be) others. Strike while the iron is hot, as the saying goes…
No word yet from Paramount of the Murder Inc drama series.
