Suge Knight Doc Greenlighted By Showtime, Tupac Biopic Director Hops Aboard

Premium cable channel Showtime has reportedly agreed to feature an upcoming documentary based on the life of former Death Row Records owner Marion "Suge" Knight, directed by from Antoine Fuqua.

Details of the new documentary film emerged online this week.

Controversial Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight Jr. is the focus of a documentary that will be produced by and broadcast on Showtime, the network announced Tuesday. Tentively titled "Suge Knight," the film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day," "Brooklyn's Finest") and co-produced by Fuqua and Bradley J. Fischer ("Black Swan," "Shutter Island," "Zodiac"). Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Times reporter Chuck Philips is also one of the film's co-producers. Showtime said the Knight film is the first in a series of documentaries for the network from "talented and prestigious filmmakers" that "will spotlight iconic and controversial figures." (The Los Angeles Times)

Co-producer Bradley J. Fischer has released a statement confirming the deal.

"Suge Knight's reputation and rise to power in the music business has become the stuff of legend, and he remains one of the entertainment industry's most provocative and enduring myths," said Fischer. "But while his name elicits an immediate and powerful reaction from people around the world, very few can legitimately claim to know the man. Antoine Fuqua and I are thrilled to be partnering with SHOWTIME to tell this remarkable story and take audiences behind a curtain that most have been terrified to even approach." (Statement)

Last month, Knight made headlines for getting convicted in a suspended license case.

Former Death Row Records boss Suge Knight has been sentenced to 36 months probation for driving on a suspended licence. The rap mogul was convicted after police pulled him over and impounded his black truck in Beverly Hills back in February. He pleaded no contest to the charge and was given three years unsupervised probation. This is the second time the rap mogul has been caught driving on a suspended licence. (NME News)

Knight is most known for signing late rapper Tupac Shakur plus Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre to Death Row Records in the 1990's.

The rap world is no stranger to controversy, but the vast majority involves its recording artists, and perhaps an occasional outbreak of violence at a show. Yet, few industry figures ever attracted the kind of notoriety that Death Row Records label head Marion "Suge" Knightdid. A particularly flamboyant and visible executive, Knight built Death Row into the biggest hip-hop label of the early '90s, thanks to a stable of talent that included Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and 2Pac. Death Row brought gangsta rap to the top of the pop charts, and made the West Coast into the epicenter of '90s hip-hop. (All Music)