Diddy to produce Notorious B.I.G. film

08/13/2007 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
courtesy of NME.com

Diddy is set to executive produce a film based on the life of rapper Notorious B.I.G.

The film will be made by Fox Searchlight films and directed by George Tillman Jr., who was the men behind the camera for the Barbershop films.

An open audition was called in the U.S. yesterday (August 12) for anyone resembling the rapper to submit an audition tape, whether an actor or not.

Tillman will direct from a script based on Cheo Hodari Cocker's book Unbelievable: The Life, Death & Afterlife Of The Notorious B.I.G. It will be co-produced by Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace.

The rapper was a major figure on the East Coast rap scene before his death in 1997 in a Los Angeles drive-by shooting. He was signed by Diddy's label Bad Boy Records.

According to Variety, the film will focus on the side of the rapper "not seen in public life."

For more on Diddy, check out his NME.com page.