Eminem’s Best Role Is Getting A Sequel
50 Cent is working with Eminem on a sequel to 8 Mile.
Eminem is best known as a rapper, with hits like Lose Yourself, The Real Slim Shady, Mockingbird, Without Me, and Monster. However, he also has a fairly decent filmography under his belt, showing up in the Adam Sandler film Funny People and the comedy-drama TV series Entourage. However, Eminem is best known for his starring role alongside Kim Basinger and Anthony Mackie in the 2002 film 8 Mile, which follows his character’s attempt to launch a hip-hop career in Detroit. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, rapper 50 Cent is working with Eminem on a sequel TV Series to the film.
The original movie, directed by Curtis Hanson of L.A. Confidential fame, focuses on Eminem’s character’s financial, emotional, and business struggles while attempting to break into the industry living near 8 Mile Road, which separates the African-American communities in Detroit and the white suburbs that Eminem originally lived in. His character, Jimmy, has to gain respect in the African-American-dominated industry through a series of violent brawls and rap battles. The film ends with Jimmy winning a much-hyped rap battle against Anthony Mackie’s Papa Doc, giving him notoriety but not necessarily ensuring future success.
While Eminem himself hasn’t spoken about the prospect of creating a TV show based on 8 Mile, rapper-turned-actor/businessman 50 Cent (real name Curtis James Jackson III) spoke to YouTube channel Big Boy TV about the project. In an interview that covered his show BMF, the late rapper Takeoff, and his appearance in the 2022 Super Bowl, 50 Cent revealed the new project. According to him, he has already been working with Eminem to get the series made.
During the interview, 50 Cent did not give any information about a potential release date. The rapper has plenty of projects to deal with already, so it might take a while before anything materializes. However, given the popularity of both Eminem and 8 Mile, the project has a good chance of happening.
When it comes down to it, 50 Cent is perhaps the most obvious choice of someone to work with Eminem on an 8 Mile sequel series. While he did not have anything to do with the original film, which was a semi-autobiographical take on Eminem’s life, his closeness to Eminem and the hip-hop industry gives him unique insight that could help bolster the story as it moves beyond Jimmy breaking into the scene. He’s also well-experienced in the TV industry, having served as executive producer for Power, For Life, Hip Hop Homicides, and BMF. If anyone has the chops to make a hip-hop-themed show a reality, it’s 50 Cent.
Eminem, meanwhile, hasn’t been particularly active as an actor since 8 Mile was released in 2002. He was considered for the starring role in a sequel to The Crow, but that never came to be. He showed up as White Boy Rick in a single episode of BMF but otherwise has mostly only shown up in music videos and shorts since then. He did have an uncredited part in The Interview and provided a voice for the video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof and an episode of Crank Yankers, but has otherwise been inactive in the acting scene for more than 20 years.
