Trailer
Plot summary
Marcus spends his childhood in the inner city, where he and his mother Katrina live on the money she earns selling drugs. He writes a song for Charlene, a girl he likes, and her stepfather sends her off to stay with her grandparents. Katrina is then murdered, and Marcus moves in with his grandparents for good. Selling drugs lets him buy new shoes, and in time he quits high school to sell for a local kingpin named Levar and Levar's underling Majestic. He and Charlene meet again and become close. When a club shooting leaves his friend Antwan paralyzed, Marcus retaliates against the shooter.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Samuel L. Jackson publicly turned down a role in the film because he didn't want to lend legitimacy to unproven actor 50 Cent, though the two ended up co-starring the following year in Home of the Brave.
- Screenwriter Terrence Winter said the film "bears absolutely no resemblance to the script I wrote", explaining that the mandate was to write the black Goodfellas, which is what he did in his original draft, but the finished film was not that at all.
- In retrospect, director Jim Sheridan said "Get Rich came out the wrong way": he was directing 50 Cent, who looked blank, and thought this was great and that the American audience would get it.
- Get Rich or Die Tryin' received negative reviews from critics and was a financial disappointment, grossing $46.5 million on a budget of $40 million.
- Released on November 8, 2005, the film's soundtrack was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America the following month, and has since sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.
- The filmmakers used Eminem's 2002 film 8 Mile as a direct template for telling 50 Cent's own autobiographical story of his childhood as a drug dealer.
