"Straight Outta Compton" is a box office hit. Its unconventional characters, the old school N.W.A. crew, has attracted fans from all over and has garnered an 88% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. Though set more than two decades ago, issues like racial tension, poverty, and police brutality are still very much relevant.
"The movie tapped into something in our culture and that made it more of a must-see," says Phil Contrin, VP and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
The movie explores the origins of influential rap group N.W.A., how they came together, the early issues which led to their fall out and their relationships with each other.
In the end, the biopic debuted for a total of $60.2 million. This number makes it the fifth biggest movie with an August opening in history. It is also the biggest R-rated movie for this month.
"Straight Outta Compton" beat "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" which debuted at $55.5 million, and "Ant Man" which raked in $57.2 million. Unlike the latter two movies, though, which cost something like $125 million each, "Straight Outta Compton" only cost $29 million to produce.
The biopic also overshadowed another movie which opened over the weekend: "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." which grossed $13.4 million. Considering the production cost of $75 million, it seems like it was a bad idea to debut alongside the N.W.A. movie.
And when put side by side with each other, this season's biggest film is light years ahead of the season's flop: Fantastic Four. In its second weekend, it has totaled $42 million in the US. It debuted with a sad $8 million only.
There were many positive reactions to "Straight Outta Compton", but some bloopers have not gone unnoticed. In the opening scene, Eazy-E is shown wearing a White Sox cap, a trademark look of his. However, the one problem is that the scene was set in 1987-and the White Sox did not adopt the black and white theme until 1991.
