It looks like 'Straight Outta Compton' made good on analysts' predictions. The music biopic that chronicles the rise of legendary rap group N.W.A, topped the US box office with a haul of $56.1 million. The film was being pegged for a $40 million opening weekend last week.
Its official synopsis reads:
In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton tells the astonishing story of how these youngsters revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.
The film is directed by F Gary Gray and features Ice Cube's son O'Shea Jackson Jr as his father, Corey Hawkins as Dr Dre, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Aldis Hodge as MC Ren and Neil Brown Jr as DJ Yella.
The film was bolstered by a huge social media campaign and the residual buzz from the release of Dr. Dre's highly anticipated third album 'Compton: A Soundtrack By Dr. Dre', which had a similarly successful launch, opening at number two on Billboard's hot 100 chart with around 300,000 units sold.
Strong reviews also helped Compton. It currently sits at 88% fresh on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Vulture's David Edelstein called it 'one of the most potent rags-to-riches showbiz movies ever.
The complete box office is as follows:
US box office chart, 14-16 August
1. Straight Outta Compton: $56m - NEW
2. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation: $17m, total $138.1m
3. The Man from UNCLE: $13.5m - NEW
4. Fantastic Four: $8m, total $41.9m
5. The Gift: $6.5m, $23.5m
6. Ant-Man: $5.5m, total $157.5m
7. Vacation: $5.3m, $46.8m
8. Minions: $5.1m, total $312.9m
9. Ricki and the Flash: $4.5m, total $14.6m
10. Trainwreck: $3.8m, total $97.9m
