Paramount Classics is acquiring distribution rights to the documentary “Fade to Black,” a portrait of hip-hop star Jay-Z.

Under the deal, which sources said is nearly final, the film will roll out Nov. 5. The acquisition could mark a change in direction for Paramount Pictures’ specialty film arm.

The Paramount Classics label, headed by co-presidents David Dinerstein and Ruth Vitale, has concentrated in the past on acquiring art-house fare, with an emphasis on foreign-language features.

“Fade,” which focuses on the rise of hip-hop star Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, should appeal to a potentially wider audience. The docu, directed by Pat Paulson and Michael John Warren, focuses specifically on Jay-Z’s November concert, which earned a street rep as a once-in-a-lifetime event. The film also looks at the star’s background and the recording of his “Black Album,” which the rapper has said is his last musical outing.

Tom Freston, Viacom Inc. co-president and co-chief operating officer, suggested last week that Paramount Classics would be taking a new direction, telling an investor conference that the label needs to become more competitive with other studio specialty film divisions. He also said he wants the studio to target younger and urban audiences.

“Fade” is pitched toward those audiences, but rather than viewing it as an immediate response to Freston’s remarks, sources familiar with the deal said it has been in the works since the summer.

Insiders have speculated that Paramount may launch a new specialty label under the Viacom banner devoted to genre fare like Sony’s Screen Gems. Others are betting that Paramount Classics will remain but will be forced to undergo executive changes. Neither Dinerstein nor Vitale was available for comment.

Freston again addressed the studio’s overall outlook Tuesday in New York at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, saying it is closing deals “with all kinds of talent.” Paramount will skew movies to a younger audience, he reiterated, while it develops more specialty films, which he called a “great source of future growth.” Viacom’s strategic plans will be presented to the company’s board of directors next week, he said.

Jay-Z’s friends and colleagues who appear in “Fade to Black” include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, R. Kelly, Foxy Brown, Pharrell, ?uestlove, the Illadelphonics, Damon Dash, Rick Rubin, Slick Rick and P. Diddy.

Jamie Foxx is the latest star to have his bedroom life become public after a Las Vegas construction worker discovered a box of 90 sexually explicit photos featuring the actor. Mark Pithian, 40, says he found the pictures — which allegedly depict the actor in sexual situations with an unidentified woman and by himself — in the garbage outside Foxx’s Las Vegas home.

Pithian claims that on Wednesday, Aug. 4, two men, “Lamont” and “Greg Chambers,” entered his apartment and demanded the “naked pictures” of Foxx, according to a Las Vegas police report on website TheSmokingGun.com,

At the time, Pithian denied having the photos, which led the men to argue and then begin throwing furniture at him. Pithian, who was treated for minor injuries at Sunrise hospital, is currently trying to peddle the revealing photos through an agent to the tabloids.

The 36-year-old Foxx’s film credits include in “Any Given Sunday,” “Ali,” “Breakin’ All the Rules” and “Collateral,” in theaters now. He next stars in the Ray Charles biopic “Ray,” which opens nationwide on Friday, Oct. 29

Namco America has filed a lawsuit against rapper Lil’ Flip and Sony Music Entertainment for copyright infringement, over the rapper’s hit song “Game Over.”

In a lawsuit filed in US District Court, Southern District of New York, Namco alleges their copyright was infringed upon, when sounds from the game “Pac-Man” and “Ms. Pac-Man” were included on “Game Over” and the remix to the song.

Lawyers for Namco were tightlipped about the details of the case.

The lawsuit alleges the sampled portions of the songs were never cleared and cited that the song contained references to guns, drugs and profanity.

Sources stated that Namco is seeking millions in damages, with some stating the amount could be as high as $10 million dollars.

“Game Over” is taken from Lil’ Flip’s platinum selling double album U Gotta Feel Me.

Read More: All Hip Hop

Rick James may have died of “natural causes,” as his label announced the day after his death, but a Los Angeles county coroner’s report released Thursday confirms the singer’s last few days may have been anything but homeopathic.

The coroner’s office officially ruled James’ Aug. 6 death “accidental,” but also noted that no fewer than nine drugs were found in his system, including methamphetamine and cocaine.

As E! exclusively reported Aug. 7, James was spotted just days prior to his death at a Hollywood party using cocaine, and many of his friends privately were concerned that the former “Superfreak” was back to his partying ways before his untimely death.

James and his family had maintained that the R&B/funk star successfully kicked his cocaine habit and was sober after years spent battling a crack addiction.

The “Give It to Me Baby” singer spent time in a Los Angeles jail during the mid 1990s for a 1991 crack-fueled assault and had said in past interviews that his time behind bars had convinced him to stay clean.

In addition to cocaine and crystal meth, the Los Angeles county coroner’s report noted the presence of seven other drugs found during the autopsy–specifically Xanax, Valium, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Digoxin, Chlorpheniramine and Vicodin. No single drug was found in quantities that would establish lethal quantities, hence the accidental death ruling.

Lil’ Kim’s bodyguard was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement in a 2001 shootout outside the office of a New York radio station.

Suif Jackson (a.k.a. C-Gutta) was sentenced on Wednesday for firing a gun at least 20 times during the shootout. Jackson, who admitted to his involvement, was handed the lengthy sentence because of a series of prior convictions for gun-related crimes, according to The Associated Press.

Kim is scheduled to stand trial on February 28 on charges of lying to a grand jury about the same incident (see “Lil’ Kim Pleads Not Guilty, Released On $500,000 Bail”). The rapper was indicted in April for telling the jury she was not present at the time of the shooting and did not know at least one of the suspects involved. She pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in New York.

The shootout took place in February 2001 when Kim and her entourage left the office of radio station WQHT-FM (Hot 97) as Capone, of rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga, and his companions were arriving (see “Shooting Rattles Radio Station After Lil’ Kim Visit”).

One man, Efrain Ocasio, was shot in the back by Jackson during the altercation. Jackson’s lawyer reportedly claims his client believed he was firing in self-defense against a member of Capone’s group.

Jackson will finish a state prison sentence which ends August 7, 2006 for an unrelated incident before beginning the federal sentence.