When 50 Cent Teamed Up With Pacino & De Niro In A Box Office Misfire
So, here’s a story that surprises a lot of people when they hear it today. Back in 2008, a film called Righteous Kill hit theaters, and on paper, it looked like a dream project. It brought together two absolute legends—Al Pacino and Robert De Niro—sharing the screen as detectives for the first time since their unforgettable face-off in Heat . Add to that an intriguing premise about a serial killer known as “Poetry Boy,” who left poems beside his victims, and you’d think this was set to be a classic crime thriller.
But reality played out differently. The movie turned out to be a major disappointment. Critics slammed it for its weak script and for squandering the incredible talent it had at its disposal. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film sits with a brutal 18% rating, which really says it all. Instead of giving audiences the tension and depth they expected from Pacino and De Niro, the film was seen as formulaic and uninspired. Fans hoping for another diner-scene level of magic like in Heat walked away let down.
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Interestingly, another big name was involved—Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. At the time, he was still fairly new to acting, having only been in Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and Home of the Brave . In Righteous Kill , he played Spider, a drug dealer caught up in the chaos of the investigation. The role wasn’t groundbreaking, but for a young actor, the chance to work alongside Pacino and De Niro was huge. Looking back, it almost feels like a case of wrong project, right cast.
Still, something positive did come out of it. While the movie itself was a misfire, it sparked a working relationship between 50 Cent and Robert De Niro. The two went on to collaborate on Freelancers in 2012, where 50 Cent actually played the lead, sharing the screen not only with De Niro but also Forest Whitaker. Unfortunately, that one was also panned by critics. Then came Last Vegas in 2013, where the rapper had a smaller role alongside De Niro, Michael Douglas, and Morgan Freeman. Better received than the others, sure, but still not a critical darling.
What’s fascinating is how these projects trace a line in 50 Cent’s acting career. Even though the films themselves didn’t make a splash, they showed his ambition to break into Hollywood and build connections with some of the most respected actors of all time. In interviews, he even admitted he had a stronger rapport with De Niro, which explains why they kept working together.
Now, with 50 Cent thriving in television as a producer on Power and gearing up for roles like Balrog in the new Street Fighter movie, it’s easy to forget about these missteps. But Righteous Kill remains a strange piece of Hollywood history—a movie that should have been a landmark collaboration for Pacino and De Niro but ended up remembered more as one of their low points. And in the middle of it all, you had 50 Cent, trying to carve out his place in film.
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