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John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 – April 28, 2019) was an Academy Award Nominated director, producer and screenwriter best known for his films Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Rosewood, Hustle and Flow and Shaft. He was the director for the 2003 film, 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Biography[]

Singleton's 1991 film debut Boyz n the Hood, an inner city drama starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, and Laurence Fishburne, was both a significant critical and commercial success. For his efforts, Singleton received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.[1] At age 24 he was the youngest person ever nominated for Best Director, and the first African-American to be nominated for the award. The film has since attained classic status and, in 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.[2]

Singleton's follow-up films Poetic Justice (1993) and Higher Learning (1995) were similarly socially conscious and received mixed to positive reviews. Singleton also directed the video for Michael Jackson's 1991 single "Remember The Time", starring actor Eddie Murphy.

In 1997, his film Rosewood, a historical drama about racial violence, was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival.[3] Both this and his 2001 film Baby Boy received very positive reviews and helped establish Singleton's critical reputation. Additionally, his adaptation of Shaft (2000), starring Samuel L. Jackson in the title role, was successful critically and commercially.

Singleton has since turned to directing action films, such as 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Four Brothers (2005), which have for the most part received mixed to negative reviews. In 2005, Singleton teamed with Craig Brewer and financed the independent film, Hustle and Flow, once it was clear that most other major backers would not clear it for release.

In 2013, it was announced that Singleton was attached as director of the Tupac biography film. On April 3, 2015, Singleton reported that production was put on hold.[4] Four days later, it was announced that following creative differences with Morgan Creek Productions, Singleton had stepped down as director, and was replaced by Carl Franklin.[5]

References[]

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