Dubbed one of the fiercest rivalries not just in music, but the entire entertainment world, the bitter and very public spat between Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls (real name: Christopher Wallace) divided America’s rap scene like never before, spawning spiteful songs in the vein of “Hit ‘Em Up” and “Who shot ya?” before both musicians were fatally shot following drive-by shootings across ’97 and ’96.
What followed was an intense murder investigation, as multiple law enforcement agencies were drafted in to crack the case. It’s that story that will soon play out on the silver screen in Brad Furman’s LAbyrinth, but Variety is reporting that USA Network – the company known recently for the Mr. Robot series – is ready to make a foray into the Tupac-Biggie saga with Unsolved. To date, the network has committed to a pilot order of the murder drama, and has now recruited Josh Duhamel (Transformers: The Last Knight), Bokeem Woodbine (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Westworld‘s Jimmi Simpson.
Based on the boots-on-the-ground experience of former LAPD Detective Greg Kading (Duhamel), Unsolved will chronicle “two major police investigations into the separate murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.” Simpson, meanwhile, has been cast Detective Russell Poole, who suspected foul play while investigating the murder of Christopher Wallace circa 1997. Last and certainly not least, Woodbine will play the part of Officer Daryn Dupree, a “key member of the task force, who had deep knowledge of both Los Angeles gangs and the rap industry.”
USA Network will now begin casting the net in search of Tupac and Biggie, at which point we’ll have a better idea of Unsolved‘s release timeline. Josh Duhamel and Bokeem Woodbine, meanwhile, will both crop up during Hollywood’s summer blockbuster season for The Last Knight (June 23rd) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7th), respectively.
