This week we have our first look at the upcoming Notorious B.I.G. biopic (called simply Notorious) in the form of a fairly rough teaser trailer. You may recall the worldwide casting call that was put out last year to find someone who could play Biggie; well the role ended up being filled by Brooklyn rapper Jamal Woolard (aka Gravy). The movie also co-stars Derek Luke as P. Diddy, Anthony Mackie as Tupac, and Naturi Naughton as Lil Kim.

Looking at this teaser trailer, it’s pretty hard to get much from it in terms of the movie’s look and feel. Gravy can certainly pass for Biggie, I’ll give him that. For the most part though, this just seems like a music video, and although I think the story is one worth telling, I have to wonder if that’s what the majority of the movie will end up being. Any Notorious B.I.G. fans out there? Do you think this movie will be as successful as 8 Mile or Get Rich or Die Tryin’? More importantly, will it do his legacy justice? Notorious is currently scheduled to be released on January 16th, 2009.

Update: You can see a better quality version over at Yahoo!.