The film tells the story of former LAPD detective, Russell Poole, who in 1997 is working the homicide investigations of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. A reporter, "Jack" Jackson, teams up with Poole after nearly two decades to find out the truth.
Cast
Johnny Depp as Russell Poole, Megan's husband and a retired LAPD detective.
Forest Whitaker as Jackson, a journalist who teams with the cop to find the truth.
On February 4, 2013, it was reported that Miriam Segal's British production company Good Films had bought the film rights to Randall Sullivan's non-fiction book LAbyrinth, about the police corruption in Los Angeles involving the Russell Poole investigation of the unsolved murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. On September 7, 2016, Johnny Depp was reportedly cast in the film to play Poole, the Los Angeles police detective who investigated the murders of the rappers. Brad Furman was announced to be directing the film from a script adapted by Christian Contreras. On September 19, Open Road Films acquired the film's US distribution rights, and would co-finance the film along with Miramax, while Good Universe would handle the film's international sales.
Casting
On November 11, 2016, Rockmond Dunbar was cast in the film to play Dreadlocks, while on November 16, Forest Whitaker also joined the film to play the journalist who teams up with the police officer to uncover the truth. On November 17, Neil Brown Jr. was cast in the film to play police officer Rafael Pérez. Xander Berkeley, Shea Whigham, Wynn Everett, and Toby Huss were cast in the film on December 13, while two days later Louis Herthum and Shamier Anderson also joined the film, with Herthum playing a city attorney who defends Poole on trial and Anderson playing corrupt LAPD officer David "D. Mack" Mack. On January 6, 2017, Amin Joseph joined the film to play police officer Kevin Gaines, and on January 18, Laurence Mason to play an FBI agent, Dunton. On January 23, 2017, newcomer Joseph Ferrante joined the film for an unspecified role.
The first trailer for the film, originally titled LAbyrinth, was released on May 21, 2018, which would have been The Notorious B.I.G.'s 46th birthday. Following the merger between Open Road Films and IM Global to form Global Road Entertainment, the film was retitled City of Lies and given a release date of September 7, 2018, 22 years after the Tupac Shakur Las Vegas shooting. However, in August 2018, the film was pulled from the schedule reportedly due to an ongoing lawsuit involving Depp and the film's location manager; no replacement date was announced. On August 23, 2018, reports surfaced that Depp's legal trouble was used as a scapegoat, and the film in fact may be being suppressed by the Los Angeles Police Department, who is implicated in the film, or other various players who do not want the film released. On August 29, 2018, another lawsuit was filed by Bank Leumi for owed millions of unpaid guarantees caused by pulling the film from release. However, in Italy City of Lies received its premiere when it was screened, out of competition, at the Noir in Festival as the closing film of the event before receiving a limited release on January 10, 2019.
Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray in Italy on June 19, 2019.
