Long before he was engaged in lawsuits with rappers, Donnell “Freeway Rick” Ross was part of an elaborate drug operation that moved over 100 kilgrams of cocaine daily and brought in $3 million each week. After having portions of the story told on BET’s “American Gangster” series and in journalist Gary Webb’s Dark Alliance, Ross has aspirations of bringing his story to movie theaters.
“I’ve met with almost everyone in Hollywood,” Ross, told the Wall Street Journal. “All of them wanted to do the story but they didn’t want to pay me. I don’t think that they really respect my value or the value of my story.”
After a chance meeting at a San Diego Wal-Mart, film director Nick Cassavetes befriended Ross. Cassavetes previous work includes The Notebook, My Sister’s Keeper. The picture would be familiar territory for Cassavetes, who wrote the screenplay for Blow, which based on the life of convicted drug trafficker George Jung. A screenplay for Ross’ biopic is rumored to be within weeks of completion, with filming scheduled to begin in April.
“If and when they come to me to direct, I’ll be there with bells on,” Cassavetes said. “I want to present all sides of what actually happened. Not hearsay. Not rhetoric or hysteria. I want to let the audience decide whose to blame if anyone.”
