Raekwon’s ambitious Wu-Tang Clan movie idea

Raekwon revealed in a recent interview that Wu-Tang Clan is about to produce a feature film with Leonardo DiCaprio chronicling the group’s story.

In a splashy appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Wu-Tang Clan revealed his ambitious vision for a full-length Wu-Tang Clan movie after Rogan suggested Quentin Tarantino as the ideal director. The rapper spoke passionately about what such a film would mean to fans and the band’s legacy, comparing the concept to Hulu’s series Wu-Tang: An American Legend.

Initially, after Rogen outlined how the film would begin, he was confident in Tarantino’s ability to bring the gritty, authentic atmosphere needed to capture the cast’s journey. “Tell Quentin [Tarantino] Cheer to me,” Raekwon said.

The rapper’s dream took an interesting turn when he recalled a past meeting with DiCaprio to discuss the idea. Believe it or not, A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip also played an important role in the early brainstorming stages of the project. “Q-Tip, a good friend of mine, he asked me and Leonardo [DiCaprio] Sit down,” he said. We met at a small pizza place in Brooklyn, one of his favorite places.

Raekwon continued, revealing that DiCaprio is a long-time Wu-Tang Clan fan and showed great enthusiasm for the project. “He said, ‘Yo, chef, what do we do, yo, who do we need to talk to?'”

Raekwon brought the idea to RZA, Wu-Tang’s de facto leader, and tried to convince him to switch from the Hulu series to a feature film. “I told RZA, ‘Before we do the Hulu thing, I think we need to make a movie that’s real and authentic to us,'” he said. “That’s not something we should be playing because people need to know our true story.”

Although RZA was interested in the concept, he was already committed to the project for Hulu, and Raekwon admits he was a little disappointed at the time, but still hopeful. “At the end of the day, clan is the best,” he said. “But one day, maybe I might get a chance to show my version.”

Finally, Raekwon gave fans a taste of his coveted creative palette in Wu-Tang Clan movie plots. His vision for the film is grand, describing it as a cross between an Italian gangster movie and a classic black crime thriller from the ’90s. “It’s like a slash of Goodfellas and Menace II society mixed together,” he explains. The rapper believes a film will provide a raw, unfiltered look at the rise of the Wu-Tang Clan, which he believes has yet to be fully captured. “It can still be made,” he said. “Just because there’s a Hulu series, doesn’t mean s###.”

This isn’t the first time Raekwon has discussed Wu-Tang Clan movie projects with DiCaprio. In 2021, Rolling Stone published an excerpt from Raekwon’s memoir, From Stairs to Stage: The Story of Raekwon and the Wu-Tang Clan, in which the New York native recalls being inspired by the success of NWA’s Straight Outta Compton. He wanted to make a similar movie to Wu-Tang Clan, while RZA wanted a scripted series.

“I was against the deal because I didn’t like the terms, the money, any of it,” Raekwon said of RZA’s plans for the Wu-Tang series. “I keep telling RZA to watch Straight Outta Compton, which made $200 million worldwide and is the highest-grossing film ever directed by a black director. To me, selling our story to a movie that no one would It wouldn’t make sense for anyone but RZA to walk away with a show with real money, that is, since he got so much more out of the deal – as executive producer, writer, creator, Composer, I’m sure there are some other ways that we’ll never know.

Watch a clip of the interview in the post above.