Editing John Singleton (section)

==Career==
{{more citations needed|section|date=April 2019}}

===1990s: Early career and breakthrough===
In 1991, Singleton made his feature film debut with ''[[Boyz n the Hood]]'', a coming-of-age crime drama about three childhood friends growing up in the crime-ridden neighborhood of South Central LA. Starring [[Cuba Gooding Jr.]], [[Ice Cube]], [[Nia Long]], [[Morris Chestnut]], [[Angela Bassett]], [[Regina King]], and [[Laurence Fishburne]], the film was both a critical and commercial success. It debuted at the [[Cannes Film Festival]]. For his efforts, Singleton received Academy Award nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]].<ref name="PickfordAward">{{cite web |title=Mary Pickford Foundation Alumni Award |url=http://cinema.usc.edu/alumni/pickford-award.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826032620/http://cinema.usc.edu/alumni/pickford-award.htm |archive-date=August 26, 2009 |publisher=USC Cinema}}</ref> At age 24, he became the [[List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees#Youngest nominees|youngest person ever nominated for Best Director]] and the [[List of black Academy Award winners and nominees#Best Director|first African-American]] to be nominated for the award. In 2002, the United States [[Library of Congress]] deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/film/titles.html|title=Films Selected to The National Film Registry, Library of Congress 1989–2008|access-date=July 17, 2009|publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

In 1992, following the success of ''Boyz n the Hood'', Singleton went on to direct VFX-driven "[[Remember the Time]]" music video for [[Michael Jackson]], which featured [[Eddie Murphy]], [[Iman (model)|Iman]], and [[Magic Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/04/arts/review-video-michael-jackson-s-costly-new-promotional-clip.html?pagewanted=1|title=Review/Video; Michael Jackson's Costly New Promotional Clip|last=Parales|first=Jon|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 4, 1992|access-date=February 11, 2010}}</ref> The song and the music video were well-received and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles as well as the Mainstream Top 40 chart. It is certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, the song was a Top 10 hit in nine countries, peaking at No.1 in New Zealand, at No.2 in Spain and No.3 in the United Kingdom.

In 1993, Singleton wrote and directed his second film, ''[[Poetic Justice (film)|Poetic Justice]]'', a romantic drama about a young African-American woman named Justice (played by [[Janet Jackson]], in her film debut) who writes poetry to deal with the loss of her boyfriend to gun violence but soon encounters a postal worker (played by [[Tupac Shakur]]), who helps her overcome depression. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but earned Jackson Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song for "Again", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The film has developed a cult following, especially for the chemistry between Jackson and Shakur and is now considered as one of Singleton's most enduring films.

In 1995, Singleton wrote and directed ''[[Higher Learning]]'', a socially conscious drama about the intense racial and social tension in a university campus. Like ''Poetic Justice'', the film received mixed reviews.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} Of his work with some of the 1990s' most visible rappers, Singleton states, <blockquote>"I come from the same place as rappers. It's cool because it's just another form of communication. I have the same sensibilities as rappers. I'm not bourgeois and everything, thinking I'm better than folks. I see myself as the first filmmaker from the hip-hop generation. I've grown up with hip-hop music. The films I make have a hip-hop aesthetic. It may not have rap in it, but there's a whole culture and politics that go with the music. It's young, black culture-that's what I deal with in my films."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chambers|first1=Veronica|date=1993|title=Singleton|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt7489q3mv/|journal=DIRT Magazine|issue=5|page=31|via=Online Archive of California; University of California, Los Angeles Library Special Collections}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1997, following the mixed reception of ''Poetic Justice'' and ''Higher Learning'', Singleton's fourth film, ''[[Rosewood (film)|Rosewood]]'', a historical drama based on racial violence during the 1923 [[Rosewood massacre]] in Florida, received generally positive reviews and was entered into the [[47th Berlin International Film Festival]], where it was nominated for the Golden Bear.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1997/02_programm_1997/02_Programm_1997.html |title=Berlinale: 1997 Programme |access-date=January 12, 2012 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>

===2000s: Continued success===
In 2000, Singelton co-wrote, co-produced and directed ''[[Shaft (2000 film)|Shaft]]'', a sequel-remake of the [[Shaft (1971 film)|original 1971 film of the same name]] starring [[Richard Roundtree]] in the [[John Shaft|title role]]. Starring [[Samuel L. Jackson]] as Shaft's relative, John Shaft Jr., the film received generally positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing over $107 million worldwide.

In 2001, ten years after the release of ''Boyz n the Hood'', Singleton wrote, produced, and directed ''[[Baby Boy (film)|Baby Boy]]'', a coming-of-age comedy-drama about Jody Summers (played by [[Tyrese Gibson]]), a 20-year-old man who fathers two children by two different women- Yvette (played by [[Taraji P. Henson]]) and Peanut (played by [[Tamara Bass|Tamara LaSeon Bass]]) but still lives with his own mother (played by [[Adrienne-Joi Johnson]]) while he lives and learns in his everyday life in the hood of Los Angeles. The film received predominantly positive reviews, many of whom considered it to be a return to form for Singleton and one of his best films.

Singleton's next film was ''[[2 Fast 2 Furious]]'' (2003), the sequel to ''[[The Fast and the Furious (2001 film)|The Fast and the Furious]]'' (2001) and the second installment in the ''[[Fast and Furious]]'' series. The film was a box office success, grossing over $236 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the series at the time, as well as the highest-grossing film of Singleton's career.

In 2005, Singleton teamed with writer-director [[Craig Brewer]] to finance and produce the [[independent film]] ''[[Hustle and Flow]]'', once it was clear that most other major backers would not clear it for release.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}} The film stars [[Terrence Howard]] as a Memphis hustler and pimp who faces his aspiration to become a rapper. Also starring [[Anthony Anderson]] and [[Taraji P. Henson]] in supporting roles, the film received positive reviews and earned two [[Academy Awards]] nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] and [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]], winning the latter.

That same year, Singleton directed ''[[Four Brothers (film)|Four Brothers]]'', a [[blaxploitation]]-inspired action film starring [[Mark Wahlberg]], [[Tyrese Gibson]], [[André Benjamin]] and [[Garrett Hedlund]] as four adopted brothers who return to their hometown of [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]] to avenge the murder of their adoptive mother. The film received mixed reviews from critics but grossed $92 million worldwide.

In 2003, Singleton received a star at the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://walkoffame.com/john-singleton/|title=John Singleton|date=October 25, 2019}}</ref>

===2010s: Unrealized projects===
[[File:John Singleton 2013.jpg|thumb|200px|Singleton in 2013]]
In 2011, Singleton was in talks with Ice Cube, who worked with Singleton on ''Boyz n the Hood'' and ''Higher Learning'', to direct a [[Straight Outta Compton (film)|biopic]] about Cube's rap group [[N.W.A.]] before [[F. Gary Gray]] was hired in August 2012. The film was released in 2015 to positive reviews and box office success.

Two years later, in 2013, Singleton was attached as the writer-director of a biopic about the life, career and death of rapper [[Tupac Shakur]]. On April 3, 2015, Singleton reported that production was put on hold.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/new-tupac-biopic-on-hold-says-director-john-singleton-20150403 |title=New Tupac Biopic 'On Hold,' Says Director John Singleton |author=Grow, Kory |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=April 3, 2015 |access-date=April 4, 2015 |archive-date=September 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901203012/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/new-tupac-biopic-on-hold-says-director-john-singleton-20150403 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following creative differences with [[Morgan Creek Productions]], Singleton had stepped down as director, and was replaced by [[Carl Franklin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thewrap.com/carl-franklin-to-replace-director-john-singleton-on-tupac-biopic/ | title=Carl Franklin to Replace Director John Singleton on Tupac Biopic | last=Donnelly | first=Matt | work=[[TheWrap]] | date=April 7, 2015 | access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref> Singleton also stated he was planning on making a competing film about Tupac.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-singleton-exits-tupac-biopic-plans-competing-film-20150409 |title=John Singleton Exits Tupac Biopic, Plans Competing Film |magazine=Rolling Stone|date=April 9, 2015 }}</ref>

The film was eventually released in 2017 as ''[[All Eyez on Me (film)|All Eyez on Me]]'', which was negatively received by critics and audiences and Singleton himself, who intended to make his own biopic about Shakur as well as a biopic about the rap group [[Three 6 Mafia]], who worked with Singleton on ''Hustle & Flow'', prior to his death in 2019.

===2017–2019: Transition to television and final years===
Following the release of the critically-panned action thriller film ''[[Abduction (2011 film)|Abduction]]'' (2011), Singleton spent the final years of his career focusing on television.

After directing episodes of the critically acclaimed TV shows ''Empire'' and ''American Crime Story'', in 2017, he served as an executive producer and director of the crime drama series ''[[Rebel (2017 TV series)|Rebel]]'' for BET, which focuses on Oakland police officer Rebecca "Rebel" Knight, who after her brother was killed by police, began working as a private investigator.

That same year, ''[[Snowfall (TV series)|Snowfall]]'', a crime drama series co-created and executively produced by Singleton for FX, premiered on July 5, 2017. Singleton co-wrote the screenplays for the first two episodes with series creators Eric Amadio and Dave Andron and directed the finales for the first two seasons. The series stars [[Damson Idris]] as Franklin Saint, a budding young drug dealer from [[South Central L.A.]], and it depicts how the community is affected by the 1980s [[Crack epidemic in the United States|crack epidemic]], and the CIA involvement in trafficking the drug.<ref>{{cite web|first=Matt Webb|last=Mitovich|url=http://tvline.com/2017/05/08/fx-snowfall-premiere-date-crack-epidemic/|title=FX Sets Premiere Date for Snowfall Drama, About Birth of Crack Epidemic|date=May 8, 2017|website=[[TVLine]]|location=Los Angeles, California|access-date=May 9, 2017|archive-date=May 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509183932/http://tvline.com/2017/05/08/fx-snowfall-premiere-date-crack-epidemic/|url-status=dead}}</ref> This was one of the last projects Singleton worked on before his death in 2019.<ref name="Andscape">{{cite web |last1=Judge |first1=Monique |title=With 'Snowfall,' John Singleton's final gift to us was his greatest |url=https://andscape.com/features/john-singletons-snowfall-series-finale/ |website=Andscape |publisher=ESPN Enterprises, Inc. |access-date=23 April 2023 |date=21 April 2023}}</ref>