In a new excerpt from his memoir From Staircase to Stage: The Story of Raekwon and Wu-Tang Clan, Raekwon reveals that he was attempting to make a Wu-Tang biopic with Leonardo DiCaprio before the project was shot down by RZA, who had allegedly already begun talks for his Hulu series Wu-Tang: An American Saga.
Published on Rolling Stone, the excerpt explains that Raekwon was inspired by the success of N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton movie, and that he approached noted Wu-Tang fan DiCaprio to produce and play a role in the film. The two met over pizza to discuss the possibility.
"We had a great time, eating pizza, telling stories, laughing and shit," Raekwon wrote. "Then we started talking about the possibility of a Wu-Tang movie and I told Leo I'd love to see him play a role in it, anything he wanted to do. […] He talked about his production company and all the directors he thought might do a great job — and these were big names and people he'd worked with."
The project actually got a bit of traction, with Raekwon and RZA attending several meetings with DiCaprio's production company. However, at some point, RZA decided to shut the deal down.
"RZA's energy was entirely different," Raekwon continued. "He barely said anything and seemed to be going through the motions, nothing more. I could tell he wasn't going to agree to do it, and my instincts told me why: my guess is that he was already in bed with a production company, deep into developing the scripted series for TV, even though none of us had signed off on it."
He added: "This bullshit hurt my feelings because it proved to me that he'd already counted me out before I began. He didn't think I could bring that kind of power to the table, but I'd gotten them there, all ready to rock and roll. They were excited and connected, so with the snap of a finger they could have gotten the ball rolling for real."
Eventually, RZA's Wu-Tang: An American Saga premiered on Hulu instead of the DiCaprio-backed biopic. Read the full excerpt here.
Published on Rolling Stone, the excerpt explains that Raekwon was inspired by the success of N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton movie, and that he approached noted Wu-Tang fan DiCaprio to produce and play a role in the film. The two met over pizza to discuss the possibility.
"We had a great time, eating pizza, telling stories, laughing and shit," Raekwon wrote. "Then we started talking about the possibility of a Wu-Tang movie and I told Leo I'd love to see him play a role in it, anything he wanted to do. […] He talked about his production company and all the directors he thought might do a great job — and these were big names and people he'd worked with."
The project actually got a bit of traction, with Raekwon and RZA attending several meetings with DiCaprio's production company. However, at some point, RZA decided to shut the deal down.
"RZA's energy was entirely different," Raekwon continued. "He barely said anything and seemed to be going through the motions, nothing more. I could tell he wasn't going to agree to do it, and my instincts told me why: my guess is that he was already in bed with a production company, deep into developing the scripted series for TV, even though none of us had signed off on it."
He added: "This bullshit hurt my feelings because it proved to me that he'd already counted me out before I began. He didn't think I could bring that kind of power to the table, but I'd gotten them there, all ready to rock and roll. They were excited and connected, so with the snap of a finger they could have gotten the ball rolling for real."
Eventually, RZA's Wu-Tang: An American Saga premiered on Hulu instead of the DiCaprio-backed biopic. Read the full excerpt here.
