Eminem, Director Work on Movie

DETROIT (AP) - Eminem and director Curtis Hanson had a lot of goals in mind when they decided to film the rapper's movie in the Motor City.

Shooting wraps up on "8 Mile'' next month, and the pair will have made a film about the city, in the city - a desire they shared for the movie, formerly known as the "Untitled Detroit Project,'' the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

Moviegoers will find out whether Hanson and Eminem achieve another goal: making a serious drama about a young white man's search for identity in a predominantly black culture. "The Eminem we're putting on screen is so not the Eminem the public thinks they know,'' said Hanson, who previously directed "L.A. Confidential'' and "Wonder Boys. I don't want to jinx him by comparing him to icons like (Marlon) Brando and (Montgomery) Clift, but the best version of this movie would have the same emotional power as something like 'East of Eden' or 'Splendor in the Grass.'''

The film, scheduled for release in summer 2002, so-stars Kim Basinger and Brittany Murphy.