Kanye West Headed For the Big Screen

Following in the footsteps of fellow rappers Eminem (Marshall Mathers) and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Kanye West is adding the titles of movie producer and actor to his already impressive résumé. No, his movie is not going to be like autobiographical like 8 Mile or Get Rich or Die Tryin’. In a New Line Cinema and Anonymous Content project, Kanye West will paint a multi-perspective portrait of the United States, through the eyes of himself and the 6 other writers involved.

The Hollywood Reporter reports on the new collaboration, saying it will “create a multiperspective portrait of the U.S. as seen through the eyes of West and several filmmakers. George C. Wolfe, the Broadway figure who directed "Lackawanna Blues," will oversee the creative process on the film. The producers are assembling about six writers and 10-12 directors to craft short stories, not music videos, that will be linked by a central narrative. The movie will feature new and old music from West.”

As well as having Wolfe and Kanye, and West’s manager, G. Roberson on the executive producer end of the project, Richard Brown and Steve Golin will serve as the movie producers. Golin has previously worked on successful films including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 50 First Dates and Being John Malkovich. There is no word as to who will be contained in the 10-12 directors. On New Line Cinema’s end, the project will be overseen by Toby Emmerich, Kent Alterman and Michele Weiss.

Kanye West already has quite a celebrated history in the music industry, starting out as a producer, and turning into a Grammy-winning rapper. Artists that have been produced by Kanye West are Jay-Z, Cam’ron, Scarface, Nas, Monica, Alicia Keys, Mos Def, John Legend, Brandy, Mariah Carey and both of his albums. Kanye’s two albums, 2004’s “College Dropout” and 2005’s “Late Registration” have both gone multi-platinum. Those two albums earned Kanye West 6 Grammy Awards, as well as multiple hit singles, including one from “College Dropout”, Jesus Walks, and one from “Late Registration”, Gold Digger.

As Reuters reported on their website, Kanye West has made headlines outside of the music industry. “The outspoken rapper generated controversy last year when he claimed, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, that President George W. Bush did not care about black people.” To add to the controversy, Kanye posed as Jesus for the cover of Rolling Stone wearing a crown of thorns.

[Additional Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters]