50 Cent to Promote New Film in Birmingham During Film Festival

The rapper-turned-actor 50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson, will visit Birmingham to promote his new made-in-Michigan film Things Fall Apart during the first Uptown Film Festival on March 11-12.

50 Cent co-wrote and produced the film in which he stars as a college football player with his eyes set on the Heisman Trophy and an NFL career before he learns he has cancer. 50 Cent will participate in a question-and-answer session following the film’s premiere at the on March 12 at 7:30 p.m.

The festival is a celebration of films made partly or entirely in Michigan. Films will be screened at the Palladium and  during the two-day festival. In addition to Things Fall Apart, four feature films will premiere during the festival, including Kill the Irishman starring Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer and Fray Stevenson.

“Unlike many other film festivals aimed at selling films, the (Uptown Film Festival) is about putting a public face on the film industry,” said Jeffrey Spilman, the festival’s Bloomfield Hills-based founder and co-executive director.  “The public knows films are made here but not necessarily what those films are.”

Things Fall Apart, directed by Mario Van Peebles and co-starring Ray Liotta and Lynn Whitfield, was filmed in the Grand Rapids area last year. Jackson, who dropped close to 60 pounds for the role, was inspired to pen the screenplay after witnessing a friend’s battle with cancer.

“You don't have to make everything personal, but that project was,” the rapper/actor said in a recent MTV interview. “That's why I committed to playing a role where I lost 54 pounds. I had to discipline myself enough until I achieved it but ... I got it."

The public can attend the Things Fall Apart premiere and question-and-answer session through the purchase of the film festival’s $150 VIP package, which provides festivalgoers unlimited admission to film screenings, the opening gala, the two major film premieres, the Michigan Film Awards Show and an afterglow party. Tickets can be purchased online at www.uptownfilmfestival.com.

“50 Cent and his production partner, Randall Emmett, have helped grow the film industry in Michigan and on the west side of the state in particular,” said Spilman, managing partner of , a film and television production company in Ferndale. “For him to come and meet with the audience and answer questions is awesome and demonstrates his and the whole production crew’s commitment to the film and to the state.”

Tom Shea of Ferndale is excited not only about the film festival but 50 Cent's enthusiasm for the state. “I’ve heard 50 Cent was so taken with Grand Rapids during filming that he expressed interest in buying a house there,” Shea said. “That’s great for the state. 

Shea said 50 Cent's enthusiasm could lead to more movies being filmed in Michigan.

“I’m also hopeful that his involvement in the community and the success of movies based here help keep the film incentives intact so more movies can continue to be made in Michigan," he said.