By Dominic Patten
January 19, 2013
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Starrbury has been brought on board to rewrite Morgan Creek Productions’ Tupac Shakur biopic. Starrbury wrote the screenplay for The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, which is premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The Tupac film was announced by Morgan Creek in early 2011. The screenplay for the movie about the iconic hip hop artist, who was killed in 1996, was originally written by Steve Bagatourian, Stephen Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. James Robinson, David Robinson, and LT Hutton are producing, with Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur as executive producer. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, about two abandoned small boys trying to survive in the city, is generating a lot of interest at Sundance even though it doesn’t premiere until January 25. Select buyers got an advance look by attending a volunteer Inevitable screening on January 17. Starrbury is also currently finishing up adapting the graphic novel The Great Unknown for New Line. Mark Gordon and Jennifer Todd are producing the action comedy, with Jorma Taccone directing. Michael Starrbury is repped by CAA and Caliber Media and attorney Rob Szymanski.