Diesel & Tucker Join Ang Lee’s Next, Singleton Off ‘2Pac’ Biopic and ‘Odyssey’ Goes to ‘Mockingjay’ Duo

Vin Diesel and Chris Tucker are in negotiations to join Ang Lee‘s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk along side newcomer Joe Alwyn as the title character, Garrett Hedlund, Steve Martin and Kristen Stewart. [The Wrap]

Carl Franklin (Devil in a Blue Dress) has replaced John Singleton as director of Morgan Creek’s Tupac the long-in-development biopic about rapper Tupac Shakur, with casting underway. Shooting is planned to begin in August or September. Why is Singleton off the pic? Here’s how he tells it on Instagram: [Variety]

Real talk! The reason I am not making this picture is because the people involved aren’t really respectful of the legacy of Tupac Amaru Shakur. I won’t say much if you want you can read my articles in Hollywood Reporter on authenticity in Black Storytelling … To Pac’s real fans just know I am still planning a movie on Tupac … It doesn’t matter what they do mines will be better… Tupac was much more than a hip hop artist … He was a black man guided by his passions … Of most importance was his love of black people and culture … Something the people involved in this movie know nothing about… Real talk! How you gonna make a movie about a man when you suing his mother to get the rights to tell his story?! They have no true love 4 Pac so this movie will not be made with love! And that’s why my ass isn’t involved ! If Tupac knew what was going on he’d ride on all these fools and take it to the streets… But I won’t do that … I’ll just make my own project. What Yall think about that?!!

A photo posted by JOHN SINGLETON (@realjohnsingleton) on Apr 7, 2015 at 3:53pm PDT

Warner Bros has purchased Mindcorp, a science fiction thriller based on a short story by Jose Padilha (RoboCop, Elite Squad). Padilha will direct with Dwain Worrell writing the script for the high-concept thriller involving next-generation mind-body experimentation and a priest who becomes responsible for the survival of humanity. [Deadline]

Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and Mia Goth (Nymphomaniac) will star in Gore Verbinski‘s supernatural horror A Cure for Wellness telling the story of an employee (DeHaan) sent to rescue his boss from a European “wellness spa” but soon realizes he’s trapped, discovering the facility has a more sinister purpose than just serving the health needs of its patients. Goth will play a longtime patient who is oblivious to the spa director’s dark designs for her. [THR]

Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2) is teaming with Lionsgate to deliver an adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” with Peter Craig, who wrote the last two installments in The Hunger Games franchise, writing the script. [Deadline]