50 Cent

50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson (birthname: Curtis James Jackson III), is one of the most iconic hip-hop artists of his generation, and has had one of the most active movie careers among his peers in the music industry who have attempted similar crossover career moves.

While “50 Cent” has been his rap handle, Jackson has generally used his birth name for his movie credits, sometimes including “50 Cent” as an inserted nickname or middle name. Jackson’s feature debut was the star of the Jim Sheridan-directed crime drama, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), based in part on episodes from his life as written by Sopranos lead writer Terence Winter, and co-starring Terrence Howard, Joy Bryant, Bill Duke, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Viola Davis. Jackson co-starred in director/writer/producer Irwin Winkler’s military drama, Home of the Brave (2006), which was a bomb for co-producer and distributor MGM.

Curtis Jackson continued his acting work with Hollywood’s crème de la crème with the Jon Avnet-directed drama, Righteous Kill (2008), starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, with Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, and John Leguizamo. Jackson unfortunately co-starred in another box-office failure, the Joel Schumacher-directed teen drama, Twelve (2010), with Chace Crawford, Rory Culkin, and Emma Roberts, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

With Georgian filmmaker Géla Babluani, who was director/co-writer/co-editor of 13 (2010), the English-language remake of his Georgian crime thriller, 13 Tzameti (2005), Jackson co-starred with the brawny cast of Jason Statham, Sam Riley, Ray Winstone, Mickey Rourke, and Alexander Skarsgård, and it premiered at the SXSW film festival.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson starred in and was screenwriter and producer of the indie crime drama, Gun (2010), co-starring Val Kilmer, and with AnnaLynne McCord, James Remar, Danny Trejo, and John Larroquette, and directed by Jessy Terrero. Jackson appeared as himself in the Roger Michell-directed comedy-drama, Morning Glory (2010), starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, and Jeff Goldblum, but failed to make a solid box-office return for Paramount Pictures with a weak $60 million return.

Jackson reunited with director Terrero for the action movie, Freelancers (2012), co-starring Forest Whitaker and Robert De Niro, with Matt Gerald, Robert Wisdom, Dana Delaney, and Vinnie Jones, but lost millions for Lionsgate. In another money-loser for Lionsgate, Jackson co-starred as 50 Cent in writer-director Scott Walker’s serial killer drama, The Frozen Ground (2013), starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, and Vanessa Hudgens.

Curtis Jackson finally enjoyed a solid hit as actor-only with Escape Plan (2013), starring Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio, Amy Ryan, and Sam Neill, and proving enough of a hit ($137.3 million on a $54 million budget) to generate two sequels--Escape Plan 2: Hades (2018), co-starring Stallone and Dave Bautista (but failing at the box office), and

Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019), with Jackson billed as a co-star with Stallone and Bautista, earned a good box office in a mix of theatrical and home video releases. After appearing in a cameo as himself in Last Vegas (2013), co-starring Michael Douglas, De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and Mary Steenburgen, Jackson was cast in a supporting role in the Brian A. Miller-directed thriller, The Prince (2014), co-starring Jason Patric, Bruce Willis, and Cusack, and once again losing millions in returns for Lionsgate. Once again, Jackson played himself in a small role in writer-director-producer Paul Feig’s hit action comedy, Spy (2015), starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Jude Law.

Curtis Jackson co-starred in one of his most successful studio releases with Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Rachel McAdams, and Naomie Harris in the Antoine Fuqua-directed boxing drama, Southpaw (2015), grossing $94 million worldwide. Jackson enjoyed a cameo as himself in the Andy Samberg (as star/co-writer/co-producer with Judd Apatow) mockumentary, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), co-starring Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer (both co-directors and co-writers), and with Sarah Silverman and Tim Meadows.

Jackson joined another hit project as co-star of writer-director Christian Gudegast’s heist thriller, Den of Thieves (2018), with Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, and O’Shea Jackson Jr., and earned $80 million. Curtis Jackson (as 50 Cent) joined the high-powered cast of Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture, and Andy Garcia in the Scott Waugh-directed action sequel, Expend4bles (2023), the fourth entry in the Expendables franchise.

Jackson co-starred with Mel Gibson in the crime thriller from writer-director Asif Akbar, Boneyard (date to be announced). Then Jackson co-starred with Neal McDonough in writer-director Josh Stolberg’s horror-satire skewering social media, Skill House (date to be announced). Jackson had star billing on writer-director Deon Taylor’s sports-themed heist drama for Lionsgate, Free Agents (date to be announced).