Universal’s biopic Straight Outta Compton eviscerated the competition to grab the #1 spot on the box office charts this weekend. ‘Compton’ took in $57.4 million in ticket sales.
The F. Gary Gray-directed film sanitizes NWA (niggas with attitudes) as a white-washed social justice group that was torn apart by external influences. When in fact NWA was ripped apart by their own greed and internal strife after recording just 2 albums.
The film’s box office success didn’t come without controversy.
Many in the black community criticized Universal for backing a film about a group of misfit misogynists who weren’t shy about their hatred for a particular class of black women.
To this day, former group members Dr. Dre, MC Ren and Ice Cube still refer to black women as “bitches” and “hoes”.
Probably due to the growing controversy, Universal Studios and the movie’s producers Ice Cube and Dr. Dre marketed the movie to predominantly white audiences.
Much was made of the studio spending millions of dollars providing heavy security at theaters to protect white patrons from NWA’s fans.
From Deadline Hollywood:
Universal/Legendary’s Straight Outta Compton raised the roof this weekend for a dramatic biopic, on track for a $57.4M opening weekend per industry estimates. Universal figures have it lower at $56.09M at 2,757 theaters. Astounding numbers in any case for a summer drama. Consider the fact that Compton is beating the openings of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ($55.5M) and potentially Ant-Man ($57.2M) and that’s with nearly 1,200 fewer theaters! Among August opening records, Compton is sixth. However, its FSS beats the first weekends of such August tentpoles Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($54.8M), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($54.7M) and Rush Hour 3 ($49.1M).
