Check Out These Exclusive Photos From the Upcoming Tupac Biopic ‘All Eyez on Me’

The life of Tupac Shakur has long been immortalized in the minds of hip-hop heads since his untimely death more than 20 years ago. But later this summer, Lionsgate/Codeblack Films will bring ‘Pac’s story of rising stardom to life on screen with the biopic All Eyez on Me.

The film, written by Ed Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft and named after ‘Pac’s seminal fourth studio album, follows the life of the young visionary from his adolescent days in Harlem to his move to the West Coast and his relationship with Suge Knight and Death Row Records. As the movie tracks ‘Pac’s domination of the music industry and sees a live reenactment of the East Coast/West Coast war that would eventually claim his life, viewers will see depictions of the key players in ‘Pac’s come-up: Afeni Shakur, Jada Pinkett, Suge Knight, Dr. Dre and The Notorious B.I.G. of course.

Just as ‘Pac’s life story has been years in the making, so has this film. The project has hit a few bumps in the road during production and switched directors three times before moving full steam ahead.

XXL spoke to the film’s director Benny Boom last year about why this movie will matter so much for hip-hop.

“I hope it will shed some light on Tupac’s story, the humanity of Tupac and bring clarity to the folklore that has become Tupac,” Boom said. “I think that what he represents, his image and all of those things mean very different things to very different people. To the kids in the struggle, he means one thing. To women, he’s like the ultimate sex symbol of hip-hop. To those activists who are [about] Black Lives Matter and those organizations, you can still pull things from Tupac lyrics that are messages of things that are happening today. He just means so much. This is why a film is being made about him. He wasn’t just a rapper.”

As the flick inches towards its release date, Lionsgate has shared several trailers for the movie showing off the all-star cast including Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tupac, Danai Gurira as ‘Pac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, Kat Graham as ‘Pac’s childhood crush Jada Pinkett and Jamal Woolard as Biggie Smalls (the same actor who played Big in the 2009 biopic Notorious).

Before All Eyez on Me hits theaters on June 16 (what would have been Tupac’s 46th birthday), check out these exclusive on-set photos from the film in the gallery above.

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