All Eyez on Me (Feature Film, 2017)

A $40 million budget, a newcomer in the lead role, and immediate disputes with old companions: When All Eyez on Me hit theaters in June 2017, the Hollywood biopic divided audiences. The film is not a documentary, but a feature film in which actors reenact Tupac’s life. It belongs in this archive because fans should know it-also because of the controversy it sparked. Anyone who wants to see and hear Tupac himself is better off with Tupac: Resurrection.

Cast, Theatrical Release, and a $40 Million Budget

The film title comes from Tupac’s 1996 double album, see All Eyez on Me.

Six Years of Development and Changing Directors

Morgan Creek announced the project as early as 2011, at that time with Antoine Fuqua as director. In 2014, John Singleton, who had directed Tupac in Poetic Justice, took over, but left the film again in 2015 over creative differences. Music video director Benny Boom only joined in late 2015.

The lead role went to Demetrius Shipp Jr., a newcomer whose father had worked on music videos with Tupac. Filming took place from December 2015 to April 2016 in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

A Prison Interview as the Guiding Thread

The film frames Tupac’s life with an interview a filmmaker conducts with him in prison in 1995. In flashbacks, the story retraces the stages of his life: from Afeni’s acquittal in the Panther 21 trial through his childhood, the acting school in Baltimore, and the friendship with Jada Pinkett, to Digital Underground.

After that come the first albums, the trials, the 1994 shooting, Death Row, the feud with Biggie, and finally the night in Las Vegas in 1996.

Strong Box Office Start, Sharp Drop, and Poor Reviews

At the box office, the film opened better than expected: In its first weekend, it grossed around $26.4 million in North America and took third place on the charts. By the second weekend, however, interest plummeted by 78 percent. In the end, the worldwide total stood at around $55.7 million.

Reviews were mostly negative: On Rotten Tomatoes, reviews reached only 17 percent approval, and on Metacritic, 38 out of 100 points. Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave it half a star out of four and called the work “one of the most useless music biopics ever made.” The filmdienst criticized that the film adopted Tupac’s own perspective without distance.

In contrast, Demetrius Shipp Jr. was frequently praised-even the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes highlights his performance. Movie audiences judged it more favorably, awarding it an A− grade according to CinemaScore.

“Deeply Hurtful”: Jada Pinkett Smith Disputes the Portrayal

On opening day, Jada Pinkett Smith wrote on Twitter that the reimagining of her relationship with Tupac was “deeply hurtful.” Several scenes had never taken place like that: Tupac had not read her a poem-she only discovered it later in his book-he had not said goodbye to her before moving to California, and there had been no backstage argument. She still praised Kat Graham and Shipp.

50 Cent also spoke disparagingly about the film. Ayanna Jackson, who had accused Tupac in 1993, called her portrayal “absolutely ludicrous.”

Strong Lead Actor, but No Reliable Chronicle

All Eyez on Me is a conventional, at times inaccurate biopic with a compelling lead actor. As an introduction to Tupac’s story, the film only works if you know that scenes are invented or compressed.