Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Rapper 50 Cent takes a final lap on upcoming tour with stop in Houston

50 Cent will perform at the Toyota Center on August 24.

Photo courtesy of 50 Cent

Rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson will celebrate of the 20th Anniversary of his 2003 debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', with the worldwide "The Final Lap Tour," which includes a stop at the Toyota Center on Thursday, August 24.

The massive tour, which starts on July 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah, will go to 39 cities across North America over the course of two months, including Dallas on August 25. After a short break, 50 Cent will play 25 more dates across Europe during the fall.

"The Final Lap Tour" will feature the rap icon performing dozens of fan-favorite and chart-topping hits, along with select tracks that he has not performed live in many years. The tour will also feature support from special guest Busta Rhymes on all dates and Jeremih supporting on all North American dates. Other special guests will be announced.

50 Cent has only released five albums in his career - most recently 2014's Animal Ambition - but each has made at least the top 5 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling more than 30 million copies worldwide. Jackson has also expanded way beyond music, finding success as an entrepreneur with his Sire Spirits brands, as well as an actor, director, and executive producer.

Verified Fan will be used for The Final Lap Tour to ensure more tickets get into the hands of fans. Fans in North America can register now through Sunday, May 7 at 10:59 pm for the Verified Fan presale. Fans who are selected to receive an access code will be able to participate in the Verified Fan presale starting on Wednesday, May 10.

Limited tickets will be sold during a general on sale starting Friday, May 12 at 10 am at Ticketmaster.com while supplies last.

Fans can also access VIP Packages which may include premium tickets, VIP parking and exclusive access to a pre-show lounge, special entry, Sire Spirits bottle signings, access to afterparty events, and more.

THE FINAL LAP TOUR 2023 – NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

Fri Jul 21 – Salt Lake City, UT – Maverik Center
Sun Jul 23 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Tue Jul 25 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - STL
Thu Jul 27 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
Fri Jul 28 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Sat Jul 29 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Mon Jul 31 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Wed Aug 02 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Thu Aug 03 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Sat Aug 05 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Sun Aug 06 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
Tue Aug 08 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Wed Aug 09 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Fri Aug 11 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre
Sat Aug 12 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Sun Aug 13 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Tue Aug 15 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
Wed Aug 16 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Thu Aug 17 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 19 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sun Aug 20 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Tue Aug 22 – Tuscaloosa, AL – Tuscaloosa Amphitheater
Thu Aug 24 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Fri Aug 25 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
Sun Aug 27 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
Tue Aug 29 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Wed Aug 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
Thu Aug 31 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sat Sep 02 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Mon Sep 04 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
Wed Sep 06 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Thu Sep 07 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Fri Sep 08 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Sun Sep 10 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Mon Sep 11 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Wed Sep 13 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
Fri Sep 15 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Sat Sep 16 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sun Sep 17 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre

concerts music

Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess

Photo by Matt Grace

Jack Black and Paul Rudd in Anaconda.

In Hollywood’s never-ending quest to take advantage of existing intellectual property, seemingly no older movie is off limits, even if the original was not well-regarded. That’s certainly the case with 1997’s Anaconda, which is best known for being a lesser entry on the filmography of Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, as well as some horrendous accent work by Jon Voight.

The idea behind the new meta-sequel Anaconda is arguably a good one. Four friends — Doug (Jack Black), Griff (Paul Rudd), Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn) — who made homemade movies when they were teenagers decide to remake Anaconda on a shoestring budget. Egged on by Griff, an actor who can’t catch a break, the four of them pull together enough money to fly down to Brazil, hire a boat, and film a script written by Doug.

Naturally, almost nothing goes as planned in the Amazon, including losing their trained snake and running headlong into a criminal enterprise. Soon enough, everything else takes second place to the presence of a giant anaconda that is stalking them and anyone else who crosses its path.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, with help from co-writer Kevin Etten, the film is designed to be an outrageous comedy peppered with laugh-out-loud moments that cover up the fact that there’s really no story. That would be all well and good … if anything the film had to offer was truly funny. Only a few scenes elicit any honest laughter, and so instead the audience is fed half-baked jokes, a story with no focus, and actors who ham it up to get any kind of reaction.

The biggest problem is that the meta-ness of the film goes too far. None of the core four characters possess any interesting traits, and their blandness is transferred over to the actors playing them. And so even as they face some harrowing situations or ones that could be funny, it’s difficult to care about anything they do since the filmmakers never make the basic effort of making the audience care about them.

It’s weird to say in a movie called Anaconda, but it becomes much too focused on the snake in the second half of the film. If the goal is to be a straight-up comedy, then everything up to and including the snake attacks should be serving that objective. But most of the time the attacks are either random or moments when the characters are already scared, and so any humor that could be mined all but disappears.

Black and Rudd are comedy all-stars who can typically be counted on to elevate even subpar material. That’s not the case here, as each only scores on a few occasions, with Black’s physicality being the funniest thing in the movie. Newton is not a good fit with this type of movie, and she isn’t done any favors by some seriously bad wigs. Zahn used to be the go-to guy for funny sidekicks, but he brings little to the table in this role.

Any attempt at rebooting/remaking an old piece of IP should make a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the original, and in that way, the new Anaconda succeeds. Unfortunately, that’s its only success, as the filmmakers can never find the right balance to turn it into the bawdy comedy they seemed to want.

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Anaconda is now playing in theaters.

movies film