Raekwon says RZA rejected Leonardo DiCaprio-backed Wu-Tang Clan biopic

Raekwon has revealed that RZA had turned down a Wu-Tang Clan biopic deal that was backed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

In the rapper’s new memoir From Staircase to Stage: The Story Of Raekwon And Wu-Tang Clan, he explained how he and RZA disagreed on the ultimate format of a biopic, with Raekwon pushing for a biopic like Straight Outta Compton while RZA wanted a multi-season TV series.

Raekwon writes in the extract, obtained by Rolling Stone, that he met DiCaprio thanks to A Tribe Called Quest‘s Q-Tip, saying that the pair “met Leo and his then-girlfriend out in Brooklyn at an old mafioso-looking pizza spot near Sunset Park that Leo loves”.

He went on: “We had a great time, eating pizza, telling stories, laughing and shit. Then we started talking about the possibility of a Wu-Tang movie and I told Leo I’d love to see him play a role in it, anything he wanted to do.

“He talked about his production company and all the directors he thought might do a great job — and these were big names and people he’d worked with. He was super open to the idea, and after that meal, he had his production company executives reach out to me.”

Raekwon went on to explain that RZA met with DiCaprio’s team, and he “saw him playing a role” and was later merely “going through the motions”.

He added: “I could tell he wasn’t going to agree to do it, and my instincts told me why: my guess is that he was already in bed with a production company, deep into developing the scripted series for TV, even though none of us had signed off on it.”

He revealed that RZA pushed for a serialised project for the band, and wrote: “I kept my cool and didn’t spaz out on him, but in my heart I knew more than ever that his relationships in Hollywood mattered more to him than his relationship with us.

“He was burying a dream deal over pride.”

Meanwhile, DiCaprio will next star in Adam McKay’sDon’t Look Up – you can watch the trailer for the film here.