Johnny Depp portrays real-life LAPD detective Russell Poole, one of the lead investigators into the murder of Notorious B.I.G., in the first trailer for the upcoming film City of Lies. The film is the latest project to examine the Ready to Die rapper's drive-by shooting death, with the trailer arriving on what would have been Christopher Wallace's 46th birthday.
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"A murder like that only goes unsolved if the police don't want to solve it," Depp's Poole says of the alleged conspiracy that hindered the investigation into Wallace's death. Poole died from a heart attack in August 2015, with Depp cast as the detective the following year. Wallace's murder remains unsolved.
The film's synopsis says of City of Lies, "LAPD detective Russell Poole (Johnny Depp) has spent years trying to solve his biggest case, but after two decades, the investigation remains open. 'Jack' Jackson (Forest Whitaker), a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies. Relentless in their hunt, these two determined men threaten to uncover the conspiracy and crack the foundation of the L.A.P.D. and an entire city."
Biggie's Life After Death cut "You're Nobody (Til Somebody ki1ls You)" soundtracks the trailer. The film is based on Randall Sullivan's non-fiction book LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal; the film was initially titled LAbyrinth until the name change to City of Lies.
City of Lies opens in theaters on September 7th. Following the 20th anniversary of Wallace's murder in 2017 – which followed the 20th anniversary of Tupac Shakur's death the preceding year – numerous television series and documentaries explored the rappers' tragic end, including Fox's Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? and USA's Unsolved.