Preston Holmes and Ivan Juzang’s NStar Studios have acquired the only known screenplay written by Tupac Shakur. Entitled Live 2 Tell and written in 1995 while the iconic hip-hop artist was serving an 11-month prison sentence on weapons charges in Dannemora, NY, producers have set a budget of $11 million and intend to begin shooting in early 2012.

Pac's script tells the story of a teenage drug lord and his difficulties trying to leave the world of crime. Holmes, who formerly directed the Pac documentary, Tupac: Resurrection, will join with the rapper's mother and executive producer Afeni Shakur to make sure that the film stays true to his original words and vision.

For Holmes, shooting the script has been an obsession for the past 16 years. As a young producer with Polygram Pictures-owned Def Pictures, he originally reached out to Pac about obtaining the rights to his movie back in 1995. He still thinks it's a sure-fire success.

"We think that the name we need is the name we have, which is Tupac Shakur," he said to Variety. —Carter Maness

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