Page 8
August 19, 2015
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
“Straight Outta Compton,” the biopic about the rap group
N.W.A. was number one at the box office last week.
‘Compton’ No. 1
in Movie Debut
Rappers story
resonates
with public
(AP) - The boys from
Compton smashed opening
weekend expectations.
Universal’s N.W.A. biopic
earned an astonishing $56.1
million in its debut, according
to studio estimates Sunday.
Director F. Gary Gray’s
well-received film charts the
formation and rise of the in-
fluential rap group. It cost just
$29 million to produce.
N.W.A. members Dr. Dre
and Ice Cube served as pro-
ducers on the film, which has
Ice Cube’s real son O’Shea
Jackson Jr. playing his fa-
ther. Dr. Dre also released the
companion piece “Compton,”
- his first new album in 16
years.
Nick Carpou, Universal’s
president of domestic distri-
bution, said they were “elat-
ed” with the results. Univer-
sal had previously predicted a
very conservative $25 to $30
million opening.
“It really struck a chord
with audiences. It’s a story
that is resonating right now,”
said Paul Dergarabedian,
Rentrak’s senior media ana-
lyst. “It was one of those re-
cords that was an important
work and a very important ex-
pression of a particular view-
point. To this day, that album
has so much power.”
Beyond the fandom around
N.W.A. and the timeliness of
the themes, Universal also
launched a clever marketing
campaign around the film,
“Straight Outta Somewhere,”
which allows social media
users to insert photos in the
iconic “Straight Outta Comp-
ton” album cover and write in
a hometown of their choos-
ing.
There have been over 5.4
million downloads to date
and it trended No. 1 across
Facebook, Twitter and Insta-
gram for two days in a row.