Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is a 2005 crime drama film starring Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. It was released on November 9, 2005. Similar to the 2002 Eminem film 8 Mile and the 1983 film Flashdance, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is a semi-autobiographical film account of 50 Cent’s own life. It was directed by 6-time Academy Award-nominee Jim Sheridan.
Controversies
On October 27, 2005, movie posters for the film featuring 50 Cent with a handgun in one hand and a mic in the other were removed from billboards in Los Angeles school areas after complaints that they promote gun violence and gang activity. 50 Cent later responded that the controversy only further increased the publicity for his film. The two objects in the controversial poster were intended as symbols to represent the transition of the main character from drug dealer to rapper.
A 30-year-old man, Sheldon Flowers, was shot three times and killed in a cinema near Pittsburgh on November 9, 2005, after watching the film. The cinema stopped showing the film as a result. Also, a cinema chain in Toledo, Ohio, stopped after-midnight screenings of the film because of fears the violence depicted may prompt further civil unrest as seen during the 2005 Toledo Riot. Another problem occurred in Champaign, Illinois. A group of gangsters shot at the screen while the show was filmed, causing the show to stop being shown there.
Samuel L. Jackson publicly turned down an offer to co-star in the film, citing that he did not want to lend credence to what he believed was an inexperienced and unproven actor. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote of Jackson’s decision: “Like Bill Cosby, Jackson is arguing against the anti-intellectual message that success for young black males is better sought in the worlds of rap and sports than in the classroom”. Jackson reportedly still thinks that rappers should not be in films, but has spoken with 50 Cent several times about it and has made amends with him. The two later co-starred in the 2006 film Home of the Brave.