City of Lies Information

City of Lies is an upcoming American biographical crime film directed by Brad Furman and written by Christian Contreras. It is based on the book LAbyrinth by Randall Sullivan, about the murder investigations of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. The film stars Johnny Depp as retired detective LAPD Russell Poole, with Forest Whitaker, Rockmond Dunbar and Neil Brown Jr. also starring. Originally set to be released on September 7, 2018 by Global Road Entertainment, it was pulled off the schedule in August 2018; no new one has been announced.

Plot

The film tells the story of American hero and former LAPD detective, Russell Poole (Johnny Depp), who in 1997 is working the murder cases of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. A reporter (based on journalist Randall Sullivan's collaboration with Russell Poole), "Jack" Jackson, teams up with Poole after nearly two decades to find out the truth.

Cast

• Johnny Depp as Russell Poole, Megan's husband and a retired LAPD detective.
• Forest Whitaker as Jackson ("Jack"), a journalist who teams with the cop to find the truth.
• Rockmond Dunbar as Dreadlocks
• Neil Brown Jr. as Rafael Prez, a corrupt LAPD officer
• Xander Berkeley as Edwards
• Shea Whigham as Detective Frank Lyga
• Wynn Everett as Megan Poole, Russell's wife.
• Toby Huss as Detective Fred Miller, Poole's partner
• Louis Herthum as City Attorney Stone, a city attorney who defends Poole on trial.
• Shamier Anderson as David "D. Mack" Mack, a corrupt LAPD officer.
• Amin Joseph as Kevin Gaines
• Laurence Mason as Dunton, an FBI Agent
• Joseph Ferrante as Detective Snow
• Dayton Callie as Lieutenant O'Shea
• Keith Szarabajka as Sgt. Reese
• Peter Greene as Commander Fasulo
• Marisol Sacramento as Errolyn Romero
• Michael Par as Varney
• Glenn Plummer as Psycho Mike
• Kevin Chapman as Sgt. Leeds
• Obba Babatund as Chief of Police
• Robert Esser as EMT Robert McGinnis
• Rian Bishop as Officer Simpyak

Production

On February 4, 2013, it was reported that Miriam Segal's British production company Good Films had bought the film rights to Randall Sullivan's non-fiction book LAbyrinth, about the police corruption in Los Angeles involving the Russell Poole investigation of the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. On September 7, 2016, Johnny Depp was reportedly cast in the film to play Poole, the Los Angeles police detective who investigated the murders of the rappers. Brad Furman was announced to be directing the film from a script adapted by Christian Contreras. On September 19, Open Road Films acquired the film's US distribution rights, and would co-finance the film along with Miramax, while Good Universe would handle the film's international sales.

Casting

On November 11, 2016, Rockmond Dunbar was cast in the film to play Dreadlocks, while on November 16, Forest Whitaker also joined the film to play the journalist who teams up with the police officer to uncover the truth. On November 17, Neil Brown Jr. was cast in the film to play police office Rafael Prez. Xander Berkeley, Shea Whigham, Wynn Everett, and Toby Huss were cast in the film on December 13, while two days later Louis Herthum and Shamier Anderson also joined the film, with Herthum playing a city attorney who defends Poole on trial and Anderson playing corrupt LAPD officer David "D. Mack" Mack. On January 6, 2017, Amin Joseph joined the film to play police officer Kevin Gaines, and on January 18, Laurence Mason to play an FBI agent, Dunton. On January 23, 2017, newcomer Joseph Ferrante joined the film for an unspecified role.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on December 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Principal photography wrapped in May 2017.

Release

The first trailer for the film, originally titled LAbyrinth, was released on May 21, 2018, which would have been The Notorious B.I.G.'s 46th birthday. Following the merger between Open Road Films and IM Global to form Global Road Entertainment, the film was retitled City of Lies and given a release date of September 7, 2018; 22 years after the Tupac Shakur Las Vegas shooting. However in August 2018, the film was pulled from the schedule due to an ongoing lawsuit involving Depp and the film's location manager; no replacement date was announced.