'' City of Lies '' is a 2018 American crime film directed by Brad Furman and written by Christian Contreras . It is based on the book '' LAbyrinth '' by Randall Sullivan , about the murder investigations of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G . The film stars Johnny Depp as retired detective LAPD Russell Poole and Forest Whitaker as a journalist Jackson , with Rockmond Dunbar and Neil Brown Jr. also starring . Originally set to be released on September 7 , 2018 by Global Road Entertainment , it was pulled off the schedule in August 2018 ; no new date has been announced , but it was screened out of competition at the Noir in Festival on December 8 , 2018 and later get a limited release in Italy on January 10 , 2019
Noir in Festival
Courmayeur Noir Film Festival
City of Lies