50 Cent's new movie

Like his mentor Eminem, 50 Cent isn't messing around with his big-screen debut. Jim Sheridan, coming off 2002's Oscar-nominated "In America," has signed on to direct the rapper in the upcoming "Locked and Loaded," according to a producer of the film. The 55-year-old Irishman has been a favorite in Tinseltown since his directorial debut, 1989's "My Left Foot," earned him Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. For "Locked and Loaded," Sheridan, whose sole music-industry credit is a Sinéad O'Connor video from 1994, will be working from a script by Terence Winter, a writer and executive producer on "The Sopranos." Few details have been released on the story, but it will focus on an orphaned former drug dealer who puts his criminal past behind him to pursue rapping. Like Eminem's "8 Mile," which was helmed by Oscar-winner Curtis Hanson, "Locked and Loaded" will be inspired by 50 Cent's own experiences. Eminem, who executive produced 50's smash debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', is producing "Locked and Loaded," along with Dr. Dre and others. Before 50 hits theaters, he will make his small-screen acting debut playing an animated version of himself in an episode of "The Simpsons."