American rapper and producer Curtis James Jackson III, popularly known as 50 Cent, on Wednesday night, announced plans to release a movie series based on the Nigerian internet fraudster Ramon Abass aka Hushpuppi.
The ‘In da Club’ Rapper responsible for other hit tracks from his debut album in 2003 ‘, Get Rich or Die Trying’, shared pictures of the notorious fraudster on his Instagram page.
50 Cent, also the G Unit Records CEO, wrote, “For my scammers, I gotta do this one, Hushpuppy series coming soon! (GLG)GreenLightGang, I don’t miss it.”
It is the second time in two years that an American filmmaker would indicate interest in shooting a film around Hushpuppi’s groundbreaking internet fraud.
In August 2021, EbonyLife Studios, a Nigerian production company owned by media entrepreneur and filmmaker Mo Abudu, announced it acquired the rights to produce an action thriller based on Hushpuppi.
Ms Abudu, who broke the news on Instagram, said EbonyLife Studios would partner with Will Packer Productions to develop an untitled project based on a Bloomberg article, ‘The Fall of the Billionaire Gucci Master’ by Evan Ratliff.
The status of the proposed film project is not known as both parties have yet to share updates.
Nonetheless, 50 Cent’s remarks have once more heightened anticipation among Nigerians, with Nollywood stakeholders urging him to allow a Nigerian with a Nigerian accent to play the titular character.
As happy as Nigerians were under his comment section, some asked to be cast in the series, and others requested that the rapper use Nigerian talents to bring the best out of the Movie.
Other celebrities and Nigerian media influencers, including IK Ogbonna, Do2dtun, OG Tega, Harrysong, OwenGee and Boma Akpore, amongst others, also reacted positively.
In June 2020, Hushpupi was arrested in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for defrauding over 1.9 million Americans.
He was extradited to the United States to face trial in July of that same year.
On Monday, a United States District Court in the Central District of California sentenced Hushpuppi to 11 years and three months after being found guilty of laundering proceeds of a school financing scam, business email compromise and other fraudulent cyber schemes.
The 47-year-old, who has also been an actor since 2005, has a successful career as a movie producer in Hollywood.
50 Cent recently, he has been famous in the Film production business with his series ‘Power’ in 2014 and has created consistent sequels to it.
However, the news of 50 Cent producing a series of Hushpuppi leaves the question if a Nollywood production would still happen.
The rapper’s acclaimed debut album ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ celebrated another Billboard chart milestone by landing back on the Billboard 200 at No. 165, which means that Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ has reached 150 weeks on the elusive chart, marking 50’s longest-charting project of his career.
The album sold 872,000 copies in the first week of its release in February 2003 and is currently a nine times platinum album in the United States