50 Cent Starred In One Of Robert De Niro & Al Pacino's Worst Movies

These days, he is known for starring alongside the trash cinema king Gerard Butler in masterpieces like "Den of Thieves," producing hit TV series such as "Power," and being cast as Balrog in the upcoming, highly-anticipated "Street Fighter" movie. With those impressive accolades under his belt, it's weird to think that there was a time when Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson starred in bad flicks. One of those movies, "Righteous Kill," has an 18% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, despite featuring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in their first team-up since Michael Mann's "Heat." 

"Righteous Kill" has Pacino and De Niro playing a pair of detectives on the hunt for a serial killer known as Poetry Boy, whose speciality is targeting dangerous criminals and leaving poems next to their remains. (Think of him as a combination of Dexter Morgan and Walt Whitman.) Meanwhile, 50 Cent plays Spider, a drug dealer who gets caught up in the mayhem and finds himself targeted by the killer.

Despite boasting an intriguing premise and all-star cast (Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, and John Leguizamo are also part of the ensemble), "Righteous Kill" was panned by critics for its poor script and wasting its actors' abilities. As such, viewers shouldn't go into the movie expecting Pacino and De Niro to create anything as good as their amazing diner scene in "Heat" or their interactions in Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman." That said, "Righteous Kill" paved the way for a working relationship between 50 Cent and De Niro, which they brought into other critically panned movies.

You have to remember that 50 Cent was pretty new to acting when the opportunity to star in "Righteous Kill" came along. Until then, he was primarily known for "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (which is better than its negative reviews suggest) and "Home of the Brave," so he probably jumped at the chance to star alongside some of cinema's true greats.

While speaking to The Guardian in 2014, the rapper explained that he enjoyed working with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, but he had more of a rapport with the former, which led to them collaborating on the actioner "Freelancers" in 2012 — another movie that was bashed by critics for being poorly written. In his own words:

"I love both of them as acting talents, but De Niro is a little more exciting to be around for me. I was also in 'Freelancers' with him and Forest Whittaker. And that was one of my passion projects — I played the lead in that film. De Niro had his people reach out to me."

In 2013, 50 Cent re-teamed with De Niro again for the comedy "Last Vegas," starring alongside Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, and Redfoo from LMFAO. The rapper's role isn't as notable in this one compared to "Righteous Kill" and "Freelancers," but it continues the trend of him and De Niro pairing up in mediocre flicks (this one boasts a 45% on Rotten Tomatoes) that might not have existed if it weren't for their poorly received serial killer movie. Now, can we get Curtis Jackson in a Martin Scorsese film so that he and De Niro can work together in something people will probably enjoy?