Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Marshall “Eminem” Mathers III are teaming up once again – but not for a new record or collab album, but instead to grab even more success from the screen, rather than the speakers and headphones. 50 Cent and Eminem are reportedly developing a new TV adaptation of 8 Mile, the 2022 music drama film that was loosely based on Eminem’s life and rise to prominence in Detroit’s underground hip-hop scene.
50 Cent revealed that the project was in development while doing an interview with Big Boy of BigBoyTV: “We’re in motion,” 50 cent said, adding “It’s a modern version… It’s gonna be big… You know, I ain’t got no duds.”
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The rapper/mogul speaks true there at the end. 50 Cent is an accomplished TV and film producer, with the biggest success on his resume is the Power franchise that has run over on Starz. The Power Universe is now four shows strong, with each series getting multiple seasons. It’s made 50 Cent just as much of a mogul in TV as he is in music and business ventures. Now this 8 Mile TV series seems like his next successful venture – because it almost certainly will come with a built-in dedicated audience.
8 Mile was a big success for Eminem and Universal Pictures largerly on the strength of Eminem’s hip-hop music fandom showing up in droves for the film. The film dropped at just the key moment in Eminem’s rise to startdom, and acted like catapult that took him from bad boy rapper to legitimate artist of both sound and screen. Eminem and co. doubled-down on the project, dropping a soundtrack that went on to become a smash hit, earning 8 Mile and Eminem the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Lose Yourself”.
It’s a savvy insight by 50 Cent to turn the story of 8 Mile into a series. IF there is one consensus criticism of 8 Mile it’s that it felt too rushed and truncated in its story – not uncommon for biopics. A series will let the grind-to-glory story of a Detroit white kid trying to be a hip-hop star breathe and build with proper pacing, and more opportunity to develop side characters, relationships, etc. the movie could only imply.
“I wanna be able to show and offer a lot more details — things that you would say in an interview or different things that you’ve already used that you put out there and stuff like that,” 50 Cent said. “You’ll see those things kind of surface in the temperament of the characters.”
Finally, this is a nice turn of Karma on 50 Cent’s part; after all, it was Eminem who finally gave 50 his big breakthrough in the music business after years of failed efforts, and 50 is committed to helping Eminem solidify his legacy: “I think it [the show] should be there for his legacy, because if you don’t see… it’s important to me that they understand it.”
8 Mile is available to stream on Prime Video.
