Nearly two decades following the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, British documentary director Nick Bloomfield is revisiting the case in his new film, Last Man Standing. Bloomfield, best known for his documentaries on the lives of prolific musical figures and the maker of his 2002 film, Biggie & Tupac.
The upcoming film will explore new, never-before-seen evidence in the murders of the hip-hop giants, and lands in cinemas in the UK July 2. Last Man Standing will act as the follow up to Biggie & Tupac, the film where Broomfield explored unreleased details of the rapper's murders. Broomfield interviewed those closest to Biggie, Tupac and their cases, alongside one of the standout whistleblowers of the case, former LAPD officer Russell Poole, who accused David Mack - a colleague, of being complicit in Biggie’s murder.
“Russell was vilified by the LAPD and over the years I watched as his health and wellbeing declined,” Bloomfield said in a statement for Last Man Standing’s release. “In August 2015, Russell died of a massive heart attack during a meeting at the LA Sheriff’s headquarters where he was still arguing his theory of the Biggie Smalls murder. I believed in Russell and I believed in his theory,” he continued, “and people who had never spoken before, who didn’t know Russell Poole, came forward with new evidence never heard before that supports his allegations that LAPD officers were involved.”
As far as those who have actually been implicated, the CEO of Tupac’s label Death Row Records, Suge Knight, has been imprisoned for voluntary manslaughter in a hit-and-run, with people coming forward with accusations that the LAPD was heavily involved in Biggie's murder, alongside Knight. After Bloomfield's first foray into their murders, the documentary was dubbed largely "speculative" by critics, a label which Bloomfield is reportedly aiming to rid himself of this time around.
Watch the trailer ahead of the release of Last Man Standing on July 2, below.