“Straight Outta Compton,” the R-rated biopic about iconic West Coast rap group N.W.A., blazed into box-office history with a $56.1 million debut this weekend, the biggest opening ever for an R-rated film in August.
The stunning launch of the F. Gary Gray-directed drama is also the biggest opening for a rap or hip-hop movie ever, ahead of the $51 million 2002 debut of Eminem’s “8 Mile.” And it made a blowout of the weekend race after surpassing analysts’ projections by at least $20 million.
Two-time champ “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” was a distant second with roughly $18 million in its third week for Paramount and the weekend’s other wide opener, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” opened with $13.5 million in third place for Warner Bros.
“Straight Outta Compton” recounts the rap group’s rise from the streets of the notorious Los Angeles suburb as N.W.A — Niggaz Wit Attitudes. The group became a leading voice for young African-Americans by challenging authority with profane hits like “F–k Tha Police,” a song that helped earn N.W.A the nickname “the world’s most dangerous group.”
The weekend’s record-breaking showing makes clear that the film’s themes of racial injustice, free speech and standing up to authority still resonate today, and not just with African-Americans. “Straight Outta Compton” played across ethnic lines, something previous rap movies didn’t do.
Forty-six percent of the audience was African-American, but 23 percent of attendees were Caucasian, 21 percent Hispanic, 4 percent Asian and 6 percent “other.” The film also played surprisingly female at 52 percent, and 49 percent of the crowd was over the age of 30.
Those audiences gave “Straight Outta Compton” an “A” CinemaScore, in line with the high marks critics have given the film, which is at 88 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. It features newcomers Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell are Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, respectively and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as his real-life father, Ice Cube, in his first starring role.
“N.W.A was an extraordinarily popular group, and there are a lot of people who grew up with that music, and it is still vital today,” Nicholas Carpou, Universal’s distribution chief, told TheWrap Sunday. “The release date, coming at a point in the summer when some fatigue sets in for many moviegoers, worked because we delivered a film that was something special, something that got audiences talking about it.”
The “Straight Outta Compton” rollout was in a relatively conservative 2,757 theaters, and it delivered an outstanding $20,345 per-screen average. That was far better than that of “Mission: Impossible,” which averaged $4,700 in 3,700 theaters, or “Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” which averaged $3,720 in 3638 locations.
The opening is a big financial score for Universal and the film’s backers, given the $29 million production budget of “Straight Outta Compton.” Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were joined as producers by Eazy-E’s widow Tomica Woods-Wright, Matt Alvarez, Gray and Scott Bernstein. Will Packer serves as executive producer of the film alongside Adam Merims, David Engel, Bill Straus, and Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni.
“Straight Outta Compton” becomes Universal’s sixth film to open at No. 1 in what has been a dominating and record-breaking year for the studio, following “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Furious 7,” “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Jurassic World,” and “The Minions.” On Saturday, Universal passed the $2 billion mark at the domestic box office in record time, overtaking the speed record previously held by Warner Bros., which reached $2 billion on Dec. 25, 2009.
Warner Bros. had hoped for more from the Guy Ritchie-directed “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” an action film starring “Superman” actor Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer based on the 1970s TV show of the same name.
Analysts had projected a debut in the high-teen millions for the film, which had hefty $75 million budget. It received a “B” CinemaScore from audiences, in line with the critics, who gave it a 68 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Things didn’t get much better for “The Fantastic Four.” The Marvel superhero reboot from Fox took a whopping 68 percent drop from its disappointing debut last week to finish fourth with an estimated $8 million.
STX Entertainment’s ‘s low-budget psychological thriller “The Gift” was fifth with a $6.5 million second weekend, a 45 percent falloff from last week. “Ricki and the Flash,” the Meryl Streep dramedy from Sony’s TriStar, fell just 31 percent and took in $4.5 million in its second weekend. That bodes well for the playability of both films, which target older women.
40 Best and Worst Actors Playing Real-Life Musicians (Photos)
The 1950s biopic “The Glenn Miller Story” took substantial liberties with the real story, but Jimmy Stewart was persuasive enough as the star bandleader to make the movie a big hit.
Universal
If you’re looking for somebody to play Hank Williams, the haunted, skeletal composer of such heartbreak classics as this 1964 movie’s title track, “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” George Hamilton is not exactly the guy who first springs to mind.
MGM
We knew Diana Ross could sing after her string of hits in the ‘60s, but we didn’t know she could act until she made an astounding film debut as the tortured Billie Holiday in 1972's “Lady Sings the Blues.”
Paramount Pictures
Director Ken Russell’s thesis in 1975's “Lisztomania” was that classical composers were the rock stars of their day, so he enlisted real rock star Roger Daltrey to mug his way through an overheated extravaganza about Franz Liszt.
Warner Bros.
“Bound for Glory,” a lavishly fictionalized 1976 recounting of the life of troubadour Woody Guthrie was nominated for six Oscars and won two – and it moved David Carradine, briefly, from a TV lead who made B movies to an unconventional movie star.
United Artists
Before he was a made-for-TV wacko, Gary Busey was a pretty fine actor – and never better than when he played the title role in 1978's “The Buddy Holly Story,” a biopic of the ‘50s rock star whose life ended early.
Columbia
As a kid, Kurt Russell acted alongside Elvis Presley in “It Happened at the World’s Fair.” As an adult, he got to act like the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1979 TV miniseries “Elvis.”
Dick Clark Productions
No, she’s not actually playing Janis Joplin -- but Bette Midler’s powerhouse performance in "The Rose" as a fearsomely talented, self-destructive and very Joplin-esque singer was the closest we’ve gotten to Janis onscreen, despite numerous recent efforts.
Fox
A lot of real country singers appeared in Michael Apted’s 1980 Loretta Lynn biopic “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” but actress Sissy Spacek took the central role (and the Oscar) after being personally chosen by Lynn.
Universal
“Amadeus” (1984) took its title from Mozart’s middle name, and Tom Hulce was just fine as the bratty prodigy – but this is Salieri’s story, and F. Murray Abraham’s movie.
Orion Pictures
Par for the course in musical biopics, 1985's “Sweet Dreams” was attacked for the liberties it took with the true story – but Jessica Lange was persuasive enough to land her fourth Oscar nomination as Patsy Cline.
TriStar
Gary Oldman has said he doesn’t like his haunted and ferocious performance as the self-destructive and ill-fated Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in 1986's “Sid & Nancy,” but most would disagree with him.
Samuel Goldwyn
Lou Diamond Phillips, meanwhile, burst onto the scene in 1987's “La Bamba” as Richie Valens, another rocker who died in the same plane crash that killed Holly.
Columbia
Decades before Clint Eastwood’s so-so “Jersey Boys,” he hit the right notes with 1988's “Bird,” his look at jazz titan Charlie Parker – and Forest Whitaker’s quiet but towering performance won him the Best Actor award at Cannes in 1988.
Warner Bros.
T Bone Burnett, who worked on 1989's "Great Balls of Fire," which starred an over-the-top Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis, once lamented that this cartoonish romp “made it look like the Dukes of Hazzard invented rock ‘n’ roll.”
Orion Picutres
Perhaps the excesses of Oliver Stone’s 1991 film “The Doors” aren’t far removed from the excesses of its subject, Jim Morrison. Val Kilmer embraces them all with deranged gusto.
TriStar
Both Angela Bassett and co-star Laurence Fishburne received Oscar nominations for their roles as Tina Turner and her abusive husband Ike in 1993's “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” and Bassett won the Golden Globe for her fierce performance in a role first offered to Whitney Houston.
Buena Vista
The character is identified as “Mentor” in the credits of Quentin Tarantino's 1993 film "True Romance," but we all know (and love) the apparition, played by Val Kilmer, who pushes Christian Slater to stand up to Gary Oldman’s dreadlocked pimp: It's the ghost of Elvis, of course.
Warner Bros.
Stephen Dorff was so impressive as original Beatles bassist Stu Sutcliffe in 1994's “Backbeat” that no less an authority than Paul McCartney, who otherwise hated the film, called him “astonishing.”
Gramercy
From a Sex Pistol to classical icon Ludwig Van Beethoven in 1994's “Immortal Beloved,” Oldman shows the broadest range of anybody on this list. But his randy Ludwig Van isn’t one of his best showcases.
Sony/Columbia
Fans of the Mexican-American singer Selena were upset that a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, Jennifer Lopez, was chosen for the title role in 1997's “Selena” – but J-Lo’s star-making performance silenced most of the critics.
Warner Bros.
In 2002's wondrously weird rock ‘n’ roll mummy movie "Bubba Ho-Tep," Bruce Campbell gives us an aging, decrepit Elvis who can still gloriously kick butt.
Vitagraph
OK, we admit it: We haven’t seen 2003's “The Night We Called It a Day.” But Dennis Hopper as Frank Sinatra? The prospect is too weird, and too delicious, to ignore.
ContentFilm International
Kevin Spacey directed, co-wrote and co-produced 2004 “Beyond the Sea,” as well as starring as ‘50s and ‘60s pop singer Bobby Darin – even though Darin died at the age of 37, making the 44-year-old Spacey’s performance problematic at times.
Lions Gate
Jamie Foxx’s career-making, Oscar-winning performance as Ray Charles in 2004's "Ray" launched the former “In Living Color” performer to a whole new level of stardom.
Universal
Joaquin Phoenix didn’t exactly sing like Johnny Cash in 2005's "Walk the Line" (no one can), but he captured some man-in-blackish essence, and Reese Witherspoon won the Oscar as June Carter.
Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for "La Vie en Rose," the first movie in which many Stateside viewers saw her – not that they’d recognize her under the makeup that transformed her into tiny, tortured chanteuse Edith Piaf.
Photographer-turned-director Anton Corbijn's moody black-and-white touch was just right for 2007's "Control," a story of the seminal post-punk band Joy Division starring Sam Riley as Ian Curtis, the singer who struggled to cope with success and with life.
Weinstein Company
Michael Shannon’s performance as Sunset Strip Svengali Kim Fowley is the standout in the middling 2010 movie “The Runaways”; Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning didn’t particularly stand out as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, respectively.
Apparition
Alan Rickman survives 2013's “CBGB” relatively intact as the proprietor of a legendary ‘70s punk dive – but the poor actors roped into standing in for the stars of the scene, Malin Akerman as Debbie Harry among them, don’t fare nearly so well.
Xlrator Media
Clint Eastwood won kudos from theater fans for tapping Broadway stars for his movie adaptation of 2014's "Jersey Boys," but John Lloyd Young was a better singer and stage performer than actor in his performance as Frankie Valli.
Warner Bros.
In "Jimi: All Is By My Side," John Ridley’s upcoming, unorthodox year-in-the-life Jimi Hendrix story, former Outkast singer Andre Benjamin captures the spacey, dreamy side of a rock icon who lived in a purple haze.
Open Road
Chadwick Boseman has the moves and the hair to play James Brown in "Get On Up" – and when you’re playing the Godfather of Soul, those two things will take you all the way to funkytown.
Universal
Ethan Hawke stars in another adventurous film about a jazz legend, the Chet Baker fantasia “Born to Be Blue.” Like Baker’s music, the film (and Hawke’s performance) is dreamy, ethereal and heartbreaking.
Entertainment One
Haunted-looking and skeletal, Tom Hiddleston makes a convincing Hank Williams (and a creditable country singer) in “I Saw the Light,” but the conventional film is far more interested in drugs and booze than in Williams' brilliant music.
Sony Pictures Classics
“Miles Ahead,” actor-director Don Cheadle’s unconventional film about the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, is odd and audacious – in other words, the kind of movie you should make if you’re going to make a movie about the revolutionary and unconventional musician.
Sony Pictures Classics
Zoe Saldana is a light-skinned woman of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, which has made her casting as the dark-skinned African American singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone a highly controversial one.
RLJ Entertainment
Michael Shannon plays the king of rock ‘n’ roll in the upcoming “Elvis & Nixon,” a comedic look at the 1970 meeting between Elvis Presley and U.S. President Richard Nixon (Kevin Spacey), at which Presley badgered Nixon into giving him a Drug Enforcement Administration badge.
Tribeca Film Festival
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Tom Hiddleston, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Zoe Saldana are latest among the hundreds of actors who’ve tried playing musicians on screen
The 1950s biopic “The Glenn Miller Story” took substantial liberties with the real story, but Jimmy Stewart was persuasive enough as the star bandleader to make the movie a big hit.