Touted as having an 8 Mile theme about it, Deadline report that Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA is set to direct a new film, following his 2012 martial arts film The Man with the Iron Fists. The upcoming movie will be a youthful drama for Lionsgate/Codeblack Films. A production about young people, slam-poetry and hip-hop, Coco will see outspoken rapper Azealia Banks in the title-roll.
A twenty-something rapper, Coco is a young woman who finds herself caught between her aspirations for a hip-hop career and her parent’s wishes for her to finish university. Set in Brooklyn, Coco is said to have already started filming this week also stars rapper Common (who will be playing a ‘mentor figure’ to Coco), along with Jill Scott (a professor with strong views on rap and slam poetry), Lucien Laviscount , Lorraine Toussaint (Coco’s mother) and Hana Mae Lee.
In a statement, RZA said that he is “extremely excited and vigorously inspired to be working with Azealia Banks” on his new project, adding that he and producer Paul Hall “have assembled a cool and eclectic cast to surround Azealia. Our story, which is set in today’s contemporary youth culture, will bring a new voice to cinema that needs to be heard.”