Ol’ Dirty Bastard biopic in the works
Sony’s Columbia Pictures is working on a biopic about the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, a.k.a. O.D.B., one of the original members of the Wu-Tang Clan and cousin of RZA, according to Shadow and Act and The Hollywood Reporter.
“I think it’s a great idea and there has been talk about it,” RZA told Rolling Stone about the film focused on his cousin, whose given name was Russell Tyrone Jones. “There are a few wheels in motion with one done by our first cousin Rayshawn. He was the young guy there watching everything that happened. Him and O.D.B.’s wife have been talking and he has a pretty interesting script. “
Columbia Pictures is now looking for a director, according to Shadow and Act.
O.D.B. (born Russell Tyrone Jones) lived a life of drama that kept him in the limelight. Aside from his work with the critically acclaimed Wu-Tang Clan in the ‘90s and ‘00s, he seemed to stay in trouble with the law and perpetually battled the drug addiction that led to his death in 2004.
Columbia Pictures had no comment on the project, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
O.D.B. was a founding member of the Staten Island-based Wu-Tang Clan with RZA and with GZA, another cousin. O.D.B. released his first album, “Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version” in 1995, earning him a Grammy nomination for best rap album.
Talk of an O.D.B. biopic has circulated for years, and RZA talked about it publicly with Rolling Stone in 2016.
O.D.B.’s life was full of ups and downs, and included time in jail for charges ranging from assault to drug possession, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He once rushed the stage at the Grammys in protest of Wu-Tang’s loss to then Puff Daddy and once fled from a court-ordered stay at a drug rehab clinic, THR reports.
His death in 2004 was due to an accidental drug overdose.
