Last night was the premiere of the new film Notorious. Many stars were on the red carpet. Check out the photos below.

Q-Tip

Dougie Fresh

Voletta Wallace and Mary J. Blige

Voletta Wallace and Jamal Woolard

Voletta Wallace and Jay-Z

Lil Mama

Busta Rhymes

D-Nice and Malinda Williams

Derek Luke

Naturi Naughton and Jamal Woolard

D-Nice is continuing to put it down with his True Hip Hop Stories web series. Some of the past stories include Masta Ace – Composing the Symphony and Doitall of the Lords of The Underground – The Birth of Funky Child. The latest is of 80’s rapper Kwame reminiscing about making his hit recording “The Rhythm.” Check it out after the jump.

True Hip-Hop Stories – Kwame from D-Nice on Vimeo.

Future stories will include Naughty by Nature, Kid Rock, The Fat Boys, Pharoahe Monch, Fu-Schnickens, and Joe Ski-Love.

SOHH.com is reporting that while on New York radio station Hot 97 recently, N.E.R.D. front man Pharrell Williams revealed to host Angie Martinez that the band is gearing for the release of their first film, directed by legendary hip-hop video director and filmmaker, Hype Williams. The movie, which is not yet titled, will depict the trio’s musical journey from the recording process to tours.

“[The movie] is going to be like The Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night,” Pharrell revealed. “[It's a] full length film. It’s for our fans.”

This can be a boost to there music if done well. Not a lot of people who are familiar with the Neptunes sound are even aware that they have a group called N.E.R.D. (that makes some dope music too). I have a feeling that this won’t be as huge as similar film like Jay-Z’s Fade to Black, just because of artist recognition. But hopefully it will be interesting enough to garner some interest.

Also be on the lookout for N.E.R.D.’s new disc, Seeing Sounds, which is slated for release on June 10.

Well, it looks like their has been a recent Will Smith sighting in New York City’s Time Square. This is because the filmmakers of this summers blockbuster Hancock needed to re-shoot scenes to tone down the subject matter for the film.

This is most likely as a result of the ratings troubles they’ve encountered with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) that were detailed in firstshowing.net’s interview with director Peter Berg.

…Peter Berg had mentioned that the film “remained surprisingly sexual, violent and true in spirit to an original script,” which had caused it to receive an R-rating twice from the MPAA.

This film will be released on July 2 and the trailer looks great. I’m not sure whether i really care if it’s rated R or PG-13, but if I had to pick one I’d go with PG-13. Mostly because I know that the film will do better number$ if it is not limited to an R-rated audience.

Plus sometime R-ratings aren’t that necessary. Reportedly, they re-shot a scene that originally had Hancock drinking with a 13 year old kid. The MPAA didn’t like that, for obvious reasons, and that was one of the reasons they gave the film the R-rating. Personally, i don’t need to see an adult drinking with a teenager to get the understanding that this dude has a drinking problem. So I say cut it or re-shoot the scene with someone that’s at least 18 years old, and move on, get the PG-13 rating and make some big bucks.

Check out the trailer here:

Ludacris is set to release his sixth album, Theater of the Mind, in September, a project he terms appropriately “theatrical.”

He has been working on the Def Jam Records set while shooting Max Payne, the big screen adaptation of the popular Rockstar video game.

Calling the album a collection of his experiences up to this point, Ludacris told Billboard.com that Theater will be film-worthy. Though he hasn’t yet chosen a first single, he said a track should come out by June or July.

It will be interesting to see how Theater of the Mind comes across to the listener. It can be tough doing concept albums, especially these days. Luda will also be in theaters October 31 with Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla, which stars Thandie Newton and Jeremy Piven.

Mark Wahlberg will play a mob kingpin in an untiltled filmed based on the life of international drug dealer Jon Roberts.  The story will show how Roberts returned from Vietnam as a decorated war hero and became a cocaine distributor for the Medellin cartel.

Wahlberg will unite on the project with The Kingdom and Hancock director Peter Berg after he completes work on The Lovely Bones, The Fighter, and The Brazilian Job.

This film is a ways out, being that The Lovely Bones, The Fighter, and The Brazilian Job are all due in 2009.  So don’t expect to see Mark in this film until 2010.

According to EURweb.com the actor says Steven Spielberg has approached him to play. Black Panther Bobby Seale.

Will Smith says nothing is set in stone yet, but he has been contacted by director Steven Spielberg to star in his upcoming film “Chicago 7,” which will chronicle the 1969-70 trial of seven radicals accused of conspiring to riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. According to he Brazillian Web site Omelete,
Will Smith has confirmed his association with the project and said that Spielberg asked him to leave some free space in his schedule for the shoot.”When Steve is ready he will send it. I don’t know specifics, story, anything, but he told me the filming dates, so I can be free to do it,”Smith told the Web site. “It’s not a 100% sure thing yet, but I’m confident.”Smith is up for the part of Black Panther Bobby Seale, who was tried on federal conspiracy charges for the anti-war riots

Rapper David Banner is set to star in The Comeback, a film produced by Ice Cube’s Cube Vision film company.

Banner, who has previously starred in Black Snake Moan and This Christmas, has reportedly been taking acting classes to sharpen his acting chops. That’s a good thing. It’s always good to see rappers taking acting seriously and not just taking it lightly.

The Comeback also stars Keke Palmer and will be directed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and is the true story of Jasmine Plummer who, at the age of eleven, became the first female to play in Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history. The release date is set for July 25, 2008.

The year 2008 looks to be a big year for hip hop in film. There are a number of films slated to come out and a slew of rappers with a lot of acting work. So we at filming hip hop have compiled a short list of our most anticipated films for 2008. The list includes films with either hip hop themes or hip hop actors/actresses with major roles in the film. Check out the list and tell us what you think.

1. Hancock (Will Smith) – This film looks like another winner at the box office for Mr. Smith. Following the success of I Am Legend this winter, Will has placed himself in line to have another stellar hit this summer with Hancock in which he plays a downtrodden, hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife (Charlize Theron) of the public relations professional (Jason Bateman) who’s trying to repair his image. Hancock’s release date is July 2, 2008.

2. A Raisin in the Sun (Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs) – The TV film, based on the 1961 play by Lorraine Hansberry and starring the same actors of 2004’s Tony award-wining play, A Raisin in the Sun is guaranteeing itself to be a television hit this year. The film, about a black family on Chicago’s South Side in the 1950s that struggles to deal with poverty, racism, and inner conflict as they strive for a better life airs Feb. 25 on ABC and stars Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Sanaa Lathan, and John Stamos.
3. Righteous Kill (50 Cent) – Well it looks like 50 has put himself in the right place at the right time once again (see Vitamin Water). For only the second time on film, two of the greatest actors of our time, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, will play opposite each other in Righteous Kill (Heat was the other film and The Godfather: Part II starred both actors although they did not share screen time). In the film, two cops (De Niro and Pacino) find themselves in pursuit of a serial killer who writes poems about the crime he just committed, leaving them at the scene. 50 Cent plays a character named Spider.
4. The Vapors – The story of hip hop’s Juice Crew (Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante, etc.) Is scheduled to hit the big screen in 2008. Cuba Gooding, Jr., Idris Elba, Keke Palmer, and rapper David Banner are set to start filming The Vapors in February.
5. Notorious – Another biopoc, this time aboiut slain rapper Notorious B.I.G., is also set the premiere in 2008. There hasn’t been a lot of news on this lately, but there was a search nationwide search for the lead role last summer in which rapper/singer Sean Kingston’s name was mentioned. Fredro Starr has been rumored to play the late Tupac Shakur in the film and George Tillman, Jr. will direct. Keep an eye out for Notorious and more news that is sure to follow in the near future.
6. Be Kind Rewind (Mos Def) – Mos is of pf the most versatile actors in hip hop, easily ranging from dramatic to comedic roles. On February 22 he is starring with the hilarious Jack Black in Be Kind Rewind (directed by Michel Gondry). In the film Mos Def plays Mike, a video rental shop owner whose friend ends up unintentionally erasing the VHS tapes in the store. They have to record their reenactment the lost films for the stores only loyal customer, an aging woman with signs of dementia. This is a great concept and should be another great vehicle for Mos Def.
Obviously this list doesn’t cover all of the films set to drop this year, so that’s where you come in. What are your thoughts and which hip hop films and films starring hip hop artist are you anticipating most for 2008?

Ice Cube’s new movie First Sunday (starring Tracy Morgan and Katt Williams, directed by David E. Talbert) had a strong second place opening this past Friday with $6.2 million from 2,213 screens. The Sony-Screen Gems’ film had the studio’s sub genre label’s third best opening behind 2006’s Underworld: Evolution ($10.2 million) and 2007’s Stomp the Yard ($7.2 million).

Friday’s #1 film was The Bucket List, at $6.4 million (2,911 screens), slightly edging out First Sunday.The full weekend’s box office results will be out later today.

Update: First Sunday finished in second place this past weekend at $19 million, to The Bucket List which totaled with $19.5 million