Get Rich or Die Tryin' | |
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Directed by | Jim Sheridan |
Produced by |
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Written by | Terence Winter |
Starring | |
Music by | |
Cinematography | Declan Quinn |
Edited by | |
Production
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Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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117 minutes |
Language | English |
Budget | $40 million |
Box office | $46.4 million |
Get Rich or Die Tryin' is a 2005 American hip-hop biopic crime film starring 50 Cent. It is 50 Cent's first film as an actor. It was released on November 9, 2005, and was known as Locked and Loaded during production. Similar to the 2002 Eminem film 8 Mile, which it used as a template, the film is loosely based on 50 Cent's own life. It was directed by Jim Sheridan. The name of the film is shared with 50's 2003 debut album of the same name.
Marcus is shot nine times by an unknown assailant. As the unidentified shooter points the gun to Marcus' head and pulls the trigger, the film flashes back to his childhood.
Marcus is a quiet young boy who adores his loving mother, and the two live a relatively comfortable life on her drug-dealing income. She often has to leave him with his grandparents while she conducts business. She is murdered in an apparent drug deal gone wrong.
Forced to live with his grandparents full-time, they themselves also having children to look after, Marcus finds his life less appealing as his grandfather works long hours to support the large family. As he grows older, he rejects the idea of legal work and decides to deal drugs, buying new clothing and even a gun. Eventually he abandons high school to sell drugs for local kingpin Levar and his underling, Majestic, full-time. Majestic, however, plans to become a major drug lord himself, often conspiring with a rap artist he manages named Dangerous.
Years later, after Marcus reunites with his childhood sweetheart Charlene, one of his friends is shot and paralyzed at a local club by a Colombian named Raul; the gunman originally aimed for Marcus. In retaliation, Marcus attacks Raul but is unable to bring himself to kill Raul when he calls out to his father, reminding Marcus of his own search for his lost father.
When Raul refuses to identify Marcus as the shooter in a police line up, he is free to go; Raul threatens him in silence through the one way mirror. After an anonymous tip off, police raid his house and find a firearm and a supply of drugs, which did not belong to Marcus. Marcus is jailed, and during his time in prison, he befriends an inmate named Bama.
After encouragement from Bama, Marcus leaves the drug trade behind to pursue and eventually fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a rapper, calling himself Young Caesar after Julius Caesar. Bama joins as his manager and producer. Bama gets out of jail before Marcus but promises he will see him again.