Christopher Wallace Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Wayne Barrow, producer of the film Notorious, has released the first photo of Jamal Woolard in the role of B.I.G. (aka Christopher Wallace) over on his official blog. Dude looks just like B.I.G., who will always go down as one of New York's greatest rap artists. Underneath the photo, Wayne writes, "Although Jamal has a bit of history of his own in the music industry, he is still relatively unknown, which we thought was an integral element in filling the role. Jamal, a Brooklyn native, has been working hard to capture the spirit of Christopher's character, the soul of the man. We are extremely excited about our choice of casting, his natural charm and charismatic demeanor is very reminiscent of B.I.G and we look forward to sharing this ride with him..."

This should be a fascinating little picture, especially if you were/are a fan of Biggie Smalls and his music. (My wife still rocks out the occasional Biggie track in the car during a long road trip.) Starring alongside Woolard will be Angela Bassett (playing Smalls' mother, Voletta), Derek Luke (as Sean "Diddy" Combs) and Anthony Mackie (as Tupac Shakur). George Tillman Jr. will direct, while the film is set to head into production on March 24 in New York City. Fox Searchlight has already set a release date of January 16, 2009 for Notorious.

So, does this guy look like Biggie ... or what?

Way, way back in July of 2005, we posted about Biggie Smalls getting his own feature biopic. Voletta Wallace, his mother, was producing, Cheo Hodari Coker was writing the script and Antoine Fuqua was in talks to direct. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director wasn't sure about the project because of the amount of control the producers were having in the script -- Wallace, as well as former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts. Now Antoine is out, and Men of Honor helmer George Tillman is in.

And that's not all -- they're gearing up to hunt for an unknown to star. Starting this Sunday at 3 am EDT, hopefuls can submit audition videos to Fox Searchlight and Biggie Casting. Barrow says: "As it relates to the individual Christopher Wallace -- his looks, his stature, what he represented, the swagger, the sensibility of the man -- all those elements are very difficult to find, no matter where you go. In the typical Hollywood world, no one came to mind outside of Forest Whitaker who could capture that essence genuinely." Yeah, he's a bit too old -- being in his mid-40's -- since Smalls was killed at the age of 24. So instead, some lucky person out there is going to take on the part.

They're really pushing the real person or "humanity within" Notorious B.I.G. -- and it's obviously a passion project for the film's producers. Now, only time will tell if they're a little too involved, like Fuqua suggests. It's great to get the inner view from trusted people close to the rapper, but do you think they're too close to translate the story to the big screen?