For years, Tupac fans have felt tortured and tempted with the idea of an official documentary on the late star from director Gobi M. Rahimi.
Now, that official documentary is no longer a mirage of the past because the Tupac Shakur estate has finally retrieved all unseen footage from the director per a court order that was three years in the making.
In a settlement reached back in 2019, Rahimi was ordered to hand over all unseen footage and content of Tupac to the estate by March 2020.
Rahimi had spent a lot of time with Tupac when he became the in-house music video director and cameraman for Pac’s production company, in which he had a vested one-fourth ownership.
Later, Rahimi would direct the “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” and “Made Niggaz” music videos. He collected tidbits of Pac’s journey, along with the “I Wonder If Heaven’s Got A Ghetto…” rapper’s last few weeks before he was shot in Las Vegas.
Rahimi intended to secure financing that would kickstart the production of a film on Pac titled 7 Dayz. However, the estate did not authorize the film because they alleged that Rahimi was denying the estate a percentage of the profits. Now that the estate has ownership of the unseen footage, which came at a price tag of $225,000 paid to Rahimi, an official documentary can now be produced.
An official title and date of release has not been revealed as of yet. However, Tupac’s aunt, Gloria Cox, suggests that the project is a go.
“I am happy to see this project come to life. This was something that my nephew was very passionate about creating in 1996,” says Gloria Cox, Pac’s aunt. “It has never been our intention to rewrite the story of Tupac. Our goal has always been to tell the true story, which has never been done before in such a complete way.”
Since Pac’s passing, several unauthorized documentaries have been released on the beloved rapper, including Tupac: Resurrection, Thug Immortal: The Tupac Shakur Story, Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake, and Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel.
All Eyez on Me, the first silver screen film based on Tupac’s life, released in 2017 to very mediocre ratings with many critics complaining that the film wasn’t accurate and didn’t tell a well-rounded story of Tupac’s impact and legacy. Hopefully, the acquired unseen content will help fill that void.
Now, if only we could get that Angie Martinez interview!
