Global Road Entertainment presents the trailer for City of Lies, starring Johnny Depp as a detective trying to solve the murders of Biggie and Tupac. It's a fitting day for the trailer to arrive, as May 21, 2018 would have been the 46th birthday of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. rapper Biggie "The Notorious B.I.G." Smalls. The murders of Wallace and fellow rap icon Tupac Shakur - which took place just over six months apart - remain two of the most infamous unsolved crimes in recent American history.

Formerly titled Labyrinth, City of Lies is based on the 2002 book LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal by author Russell Sullivan. The book met with both much acclaim and no small amount of controversy, due to its assertions that former rap mogul Suge Knight had been behind the murders of both men, and that members of the LAPD had helped to cover up the truth.

Johnny Depp plays Los Angeles detective Russell Poole, the source of much of the material found in Sullivan's book. Poole quit the LAPD in 1999, but continued looking into the murders on his own time. He passed away of a heart attack in 2015. Forest Whitaker also stars in City of Lies, playing journalist Jack Jackson, who teams up with Poole to investigate the case. Check out the first trailer for City of Lies above, which sees Depp a long way from his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

If the idea of a cop named Russell Poole investigating the murders of Biggie and Tupac sounds familiar, it's likely because - as is often the case in Hollywood - a different production beat City of Lies to the punch a bit, albeit on TV instead of in theaters. This spring, USA aired Unsolved, a new true crime anthology series. Season 1 concerned the murders of Tupac and Biggie, and also featured Poole in a prominent role. TV's Poole was played by in-demand character actor Jimmi Simpson, who counts Black Mirror, House of Cards, and Person of Interest among his long list of credits. He also recurs on HBO's hit sci-fi drama Westworld.

City of Lies will be a notable project for Johnny Depp, as it's his first big release since controversy erupted over his casting as Gellert Grindelwald in Warner Bros' Fantastic Beasts sequel late last year. Depp was of course accused by ex-wife Amber Heard of spousal abuse, although he's denied the allegations, and several of his Fantastic Beasts colleagues have since defended him. Controversy aside, there's no doubt Depp has delivered some terrific performances over the years, and Russell Poole may just be his latest triumph.

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City of Lies arrives in theaters on September 7.

Source: Global Road Entertainment