Allen Hughes: Last News

Snoop Dogg is set to produce a biopic about his own life. The 51-year-old rap legend has joined forces with Universal Pictures, director Allen Hughes and writer Joe Robert Cole to make the upcoming biopic. Snoop - who will produce alongside Allen and Sara Ramaker - said in a statement: "I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind.

On the heels of several successful musical biopics in recent years, Universal Pictures is now developing a film about rap superstar Snoop Dogg.The production, which will be the first under Snoop's newly formed Death Row Pictures, will incorporate music from his storied career that dates back to his initial appearance on Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992) and his own hit solo studio debut, Doggystyle (1993).The co-writer of Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director, Joe Robert Cole, will pen the screenplay, while Allen Hughes, who with his brother Albert as the Hughes Brothers directed movies such as Menace II Society, Dead Presidents and The Book of Eli, is on board to direct.

It worked for “Straight Outta Compton,” which charted the rise and fall of the rap group, N.W.A. So, apparently, Universal thinks the rap biopic genre is something worth exploring with an upcoming film based on the life and career of Snoop Dogg.

EXCLUSIVE: This morning in Toronto, writer-director Allen Hughes and FX unveil the first of a five-part docuseries Dear Mama. This is an epic exploration of the life of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur and his late mom, Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panthers member. It is Hughes’ first trip back to TIFF since he and brother Albert came to unveil their Johnny Depp pic From Hell, only to see that title become all too apt when, on their media day 21 years ago, everything got canceled when two hijacked planes crashed into and took down the Twin Towers. At the behest of the estate of the Shakur family, Hughes, who aside from films like The Book of Eli directed the acclaimed docuseries The Defiant Ones on Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, spent years diving deep into the mythology of Tupac to answer why his art endures so long after he was shot dead at age 25. Much as he would have preferred to avoid it, Hughes had to confront his own provocative history with Tupac. After the Hughes Brothers hired Tupac for a supporting role in Menace II Society, they fired Shakur over disagreements about the part he wanted to play. Later, the hip-hop artist and his pals crossed paths with Hughes and his co-director Albert, and beat them badly enough that it led to a criminal conviction on Shakur for assault and battery., Here, Hughes discusses all, including the spiritual connection between Tupac and Marvin Gaye, whose life Allen Hughes takes on next in a narrative film for Warner Bros and Motown Records.

Dr. Dre was near death after suffering a brain aneurysm nearly two years ago. The music mogul was admitted to Cedars-Sinar Medical Center in Los Angeles on 5 January 2021, but following treatment, was released from the hospital in February, and continued to recuperate at home.

Dr. Dre's prognosis didn't look good after he suffered a brain aneurysm in January 2021.

Dr. Dre‘s prognosis didn’t look good after he suffered a brain aneurysm in January 2021. In fact, things looked so bleak doctors thought the rap mogul was going to die, so they invited his family to the hospital to say their “last goodbyes.”

Dark creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s 1899, the highly-anticipated fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale and Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom Exodus have made the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2022 Primetime programme.

Dear Mama, will highlight the relationship between the iconic musician 2pac and his mother, Afeni Shakur.In celebration of Mother’s Day, the popular network released the teaser trailer for the five-part docuseries directed by Allen Hughes. Dear Mama – named after the late rapper’s song of the same name – will examine both Afeni and Tupac’s vision of the world they lived in, as well as their respective journeys to better themselves and people around them.“It was my responsibility to teach Tupac how to survive his reality,” Afeni said in a recorded quote during the docuseries’ montage.  “So, if Tupac do something wrong – take your little sorry self in that corner, get the New York Times – and let’s have a debate about it.

Dear Mama, which centres around 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) and his mother Afeni, has been released by FX – watch below.The brief teaser for the five-part docuseries was released to coincide with Mother’s Day in the US. It shows images of Shakur, with a voiceover from Afeni describing a lesson she taught her son.“It was my responsibility to teach 2Pac how to survive his reality,” Afeni Shakur says in the clip.

You know the story of Tupac Shakur, the now-legendary hip hop icon: uber-prolific, courting fame, controversy, and a rock n’ roll lifestyle of superstardom, Shakur’s hip hop reign was all too brief and he was gunned down by rivals when his career was still ascending. What’s lesser-known to many is the story of Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, an American political activist and former member of the Black Panther Party, their love, their sometimes strained relationship, but also the way her political defiance influenced the music of her son.

A new Marvin Gaye biopic is on the way, a script by poet and playwright Marcus Gardley having been snapped up by Warner Bros. The project will be brought to the screen by ‘Menace II Society’ director Allen Hughes, with Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine also on board as producers.“This is so personal for me”, Hughes tells Deadline.

Marvin Gaye biopic What’s Going On, directed by Allen Hughes.Hughes, who is best known for directing films such as Menace II Society and Dead Presidents with his brother Albert, will also produce the film alongside Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine – both of whom were the subject of his 2018 docu-series The Defiant Ones – and Andrew Lazar.“This is so personal for me,” Hughes told Deadline.

Biopics covering iconic musicians have always been potential Oscar bait to Hollywood (see “Ray” with Jamie Foxx), but ever since the Oscar-winning Queen movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Straight Outta Compton, based on the iconic rap group N.W.A., became major box office hits, the trend to get new ones up and running has gone into overdrive.

Haley Bosselman editorWarner Bros. has acquired Marvin Gaye biopic “What’s Going On,” Variety has confirmed.“What’s Going On” has been in the works for a number of years.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros has landed What’s Going On, a biopic of iconic soul singer Marvin Gaye that Allen Hughes will direct, and produce with Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Andrew Lazar. The studio acquired a script by poet/playwright Marcus Gardley and the singer’s estate and Motown are part of the deal so there will be rights to use all of Gaye’s signature songs. This will finally bring to the screen the singer’s story, after many previous attempts by different filmmakers stalled or fell short of the rights needed.

Dave McNary Film ReporterThe American Film Institute has unveiled its lineup of 124 films, adding notable titles including the documentaries “Belushi,” “Citizen Penn” and “Hopper/Welles” and the Albert and Allen Hughes 1995 thriller “Dead Presidents.”AFI Fest, which is going virtual this year without the usual glitzy Hollywood premieres at the TCL Chinese Theatre, had announced previously that Rachel Brosnahan’s crime drama “I’m Your Woman” had been selected as its opening night title on Oct. 15.

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: The Defiant Ones, the four-part documentary series from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, is headed to Peacock.The streamer has acquired the exclusive U.S.