If you’re looking to transition from slob-watching true crime stuff on your sofa to an actual movie theatre, then Last Man Standing might just be the doc to make the move for. The new movie from British documentary director Nick Broomfield — best known as the maker of 2002’s Biggie & Tupac — explores new, never-before-seen evidence in the murders of those two hip-hop stalwarts. And you can get your first look at the trailer below before it arrives in cinemas this summer.
Last Man Standing picks up nearly two decades after Biggie & Tupac, in which Nick Broomfield pieced together uncovered details in the murders of the two rappers. In the original movie, he interviewed a number of subjects close to Biggie, Tupac and their cases; most significantly the former LAPD officer Russell Poole, who accused one of his colleagues, David Mack, of being complicit in Biggie’s murder.
Since the first documentary was released, the CEO of Tupac’s label Death Row Records, Suge Knight, has been imprisoned for voluntary manslaughter for his involvement in a 2015 hit-and-run. A large number of individuals have also come forward with their own insights into how Biggie’s murder — which Suge was accused of orchestrating — may have come to be, and who might be responsible for it: namely the LAPD.
“Russell was vilified by the LAPD and over the years I watched as his health and wellbeing declined,” Nick says in a statement tied to 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,” Nick added, “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.”
And so, that’s where Last Man Standing comes in. After the original documentary was accused of being “largely speculative” by critics from titles like The New York Times, the movie sees Nick bring in more apparent witnesses and insiders to offer their side of the story.
Last Man Standing hits UK cinemas on 2 July via Dogwoof. Watch the trailer below.
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