Straight Outta Compton (film)

This article is about the 2015 biographical film. For other uses, see Straight Outta Compton (disambiguation).

Straight Outta Compton
File:Straight Outta Compton poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	F. Gary Gray
Produced by	Ice Cube Tomica Woods-Wright Matt Alvarez F. Gary Gray Scott Bernstein Dr. Dre
Screenplay by	Jonathan Herman Andrea Berloff
Story by	S. Leigh Savidge Alan Wenkus Andrea Berloff
Starring	O'Shea Jackson, Jr. Corey Hawkins Jason Mitchell Paul Giamatti
Music by	Joseph Trapanese
Cinematography	Matthew Libatique
Edited by	Billy Fox
Production companies	Legendary Pictures New Line Cinema Cube Vision Crucial Films Broken Chair Flickz
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	August 11, 2015 (2015-08-11) (Los Angeles) August 14, 2015 (2015-08-14) (United States)
Running time	147 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$28 million
Box office	$201.6 million

Straight Outta Compton is a 2015 American biographical drama film that chronicles the rise and fall of the Compton, California hip hop music group N.W.A. The film borrows its title from the name of their debut studio album and its title track. Straight Outta Compton was directed by F. Gary Gray and stars Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube and Paul Giamatti as N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller. Among the film's producers are Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E's widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, with MC Ren and DJ Yella as creative consultants.

The film was released on August 14, 2015, received positive reviews from critics and made over $201 million worldwide. An album inspired by the film, Compton, was released by Dr. Dre on August 7, 2015, and debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. The film also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Plot

In 1986 Compton, California, Eric "Eazy-E" Wright is a drug dealer who evades a police raid at a crack house, Andre "Dr. Dre" Young lives with his mom and struggles with what he wants to do with his life and O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson is a high school senior who lives in a middle-class household but in a crime-ridden neighborhood and is harassed by the police.

Sometime later, Eric and Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson, a pair of Crips in a Blood territory, go to the club Doo-Toos where Andre and Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby work as DJs. Andre brings Ice Cube to the stage and he performs the song "Gangsta Gangsta". When Andre leaves the club, he is arrested after breaking up a fight involving his brother Tyree. Eric bails him out the next day, and Andre talks to him about investing in a start-up label, to which Eric agrees. Andre gets rappers H.B.O. (Homeboys Only) to perform the song but after an argument H.B.O. leave. Not knowing what to do, Dre convinces Eric to record the song which he reluctantly agrees to. They record and release "Boyz-n-the-Hood" which becomes a smash hit. Music manager Jerry Heller approaches Eazy-E, who accepts his offer to manage the group.

In 1988, N.W.A performs "Dopeman" and Heller introduces them to Bryan Turner, a producer at Priority Records which they sign up with. Eazy E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, DJ Yella and The D.O.C. commence writing lyrics and recording songs, such as "Quiet On tha Set" and "Express Yourself", for their debut album, Straight Outta Compton. During one of their recording sessions, the group is harassed by local police officers, which leads the group to record "Fuck tha Police".

When the group goes on a national tour in 1989, the FBI demands that they stop performing "Fuck tha Police", declaring that it encourages violence against law enforcement, but they refuse, and the police raid their Detroit concert, resulting in riots and the group being arrested. Interviewed by the press, the group maintains that they did not start the riot, that their music was a reflection of their reality and that the First Amendment protected their free expression. Shortly after, Dre gets a call from his mother that Tyree was killed in a street fight.

Meanwhile, Heller has been delaying Ice Cube's contract. When Cube realizes that Eazy will be making more money than the other members, he leaves the group and signs with Turner. After his debut album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted becomes a huge success, Cube becomes furious when Turner refuses to pay him, and wrecks Turner's office. The rest of N.W.A, especially Eazy, becomes envious of Cube's success, and release the EP 100 Miles and Runnin', in which they diss Cube on the track "Real Niggaz", calling him Benedict Arnold. In turn, Cube makes a diss track attacking N.W.A and Heller, which enrages Heller for its perceived anti-Semitism.

Following the release of N.W.A's second album, Niggaz4Life, and The D.O.C.'s near fatal car accident, Dre realizes that Heller is taking advantage of him and also leaves the group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight. After this, Knight meets with Eazy-E so he can release Dre and D.O.C from their contract from Ruthless, but Eazy refuses and Knight and his crew physically assault him. Dre enjoys his new found freedom and releases his debut album, The Chronic in 1992. Dre also begins producing tracks for other rappers, including Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, though he questions Knight's violent behavior and lifestyle. Meanwhile, in April 1992 a riot escalates in Los Angeles in the wake of the trial for the police beating of unarmed motorist Rodney King.

With N.W.A disbanded, Eazy and his girlfriend discover that Heller was embezzling money from the group, and Eazy fires him. In December 1994, he rekindles his friendship with Cube in New York City, and calls Dre to revive N.W.A. In February 1995, Eazy, Ren and Yella begin working on new material, but during the session Eazy collapses and is taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The group members have emotional visits with him before his death on March 26, 1995. A year later, Dre meets with Knight and tells him that he is leaving Death Row to start his own label.

During the credits it is shown that Ice Cube still records music and has become a successful actor with films such as Boyz n the Hood, Friday, xXx: State of the Union and Ride Along, and that Dre is responsible for the success of rappers Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and 50 Cent. He also started Beats Electronics, which was bought by Apple in 2014 for $3 billion, the largest deal in Apple's history.

Cast

• Jason Mitchell as Eric Wright / Eazy-E
• Corey Hawkins as Andre Young / Dr. Dre
• O'Shea Jackson Jr. as O'Shea Jackson / Ice Cube
• Aldis Hodge as Lorenzo Patterson / MC Ren
• Neil Brown, Jr. as Antoine Carraby / DJ Yella
• Paul Giamatti as Jerry Heller
• Marlon Yates Jr. as The D.O.C.
• Alexandra Shipp as Kimberly Woodruff
• Carra Patterson as Tomica Woods
• Corey Reynolds as Alonzo Williams
• Tate Ellington as Bryan Turner
• Angela Elayne Gibbs as Doris Jackson
• Bruce Beatty as Hosea Jackson
• Lisa Renee Pitts as Verna Young
• Keith Stanfield as Snoop Dogg
• R. Marcos Taylor as Suge Knight (credited as R. Marcus Taylor)
• Sheldon A. Smith as Warren G
• Elena Goode as Nicole Threatt
• Keith Powers as Tyree Crayon
• Inny Clemons as Officer Rauch (Torrance Police Officer aka "sellout" black cop)
• Mark Sherman as Jimmy Iovine
• Camryn Howard as DJ Speed
• Cleavon McClendon as Sir Jinx
• Rogelio Douglas, Jr. as Chuck D
• Steve Turner as Keith Shocklee
• Tyron Woodley as T-Bone
• LaDell Preston as Shorty
• Jordan Can as J-Dee
• J. Kristopher as Lay Law
• Stephanie Campbell as Charis Henry
• Marcc Rose as Tupac Shakur (voiced by Darris Love)
• Brandon Lafourche as Arabian Prince
• F. Gary Gray (cameo) as Greg Mack
• Compton Menace as OG 2 Tone

Production

Development

In March 2009, it was announced that the film was in development at New Line Cinema, with S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus writing, and Tomica Woods-Wright, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre set to produce the film. In May 2010, it was announced Andrea Berloff would write a draft of the screenplay. In September 2011, John Singleton told The Playlist that he was in talks to direct the film, saying: "I can’t talk about it too prematurely about the stuff I'm doing because nothing’s come to fruition yet, but Cube and I are talking about doing the N.W.A. story. The script is really, really good, and so we're just figuring it out. New Line really wants to make it." Also in September 2011, F. Gary Gray, Craig Brewer, and Peter Berg were reportedly in talks to direct the film. In April 2012, F. Gary Gray was selected as director. Gray had worked with Ice Cube in the film Friday and Dr. Dre in the film Set It Off. He has also directed some of their music videos. By 2013, the film was picked up by Universal Studios, who, in December 2013, hired Jonathan Herman to write a new draft of the script and brought in Will Packer to executive produce, alongside Adam Merims, David Engel, Bill Straus, Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni.

Casting

Casting calls began in the middle of 2010. There had been rumors of Lil Eazy-E playing his late father Eazy-E, and Ice Cube's son and fellow rapper O'Shea Jackson Jr. playing his father as well. Ice Cube said of the movie, "We're taking it to the nooks and crannies, I think deeper than any other article or documentary on the group," he said. "These are the intimate conversations that helped forge N.W.A. To me, I think it's interesting to anybody who loves that era and I don't know any other movie where you can mix Gangster Rap, the F.B.I., L.A. Riots, HIV, and fucking feuding with each other. This movie has everything from Daryl Gates and the battering ram."

On February 21, 2014, director Gray announced a March 9, 2014 open casting call for the film in Gardena, California, via his Twitter account. There were also open casting calls in Atlanta and Chicago. Rapper YG auditioned to play MC Ren in the film. The project was scheduled to start filming in April 2014 but was pushed back due to casting delays.

On June 18, 2014, Universal officially announced that the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton would be released theatrically on August 14, 2015. It was also confirmed that Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., would play a younger version of his father in the film. O'Shea Jr. joined Jason Mitchell and Corey Hawkins, who portrayed group members Eazy-E and Dr. Dre, respectively. In early July 2014, casting directors for the film issued a casting call for extras and vintage cars in the Los Angeles area. The casting call release stated that filming would begin in August 2014. In July 2014, it was confirmed Aldis Hodge would portray MC Ren and Neil Brown, Jr. would play DJ Yella. On August 15, 2014, Paul Giamatti joined the cast to play N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller. On August 26, 2014, Keith Stanfield joined the cast to play Snoop Dogg.

On June 16, 2015, Ice Cube revealed that a "Tupac scene" had been shot for the film. Entertainment Weekly reported that the role of Tupac Shakur in the film would be played by newcomer Marcc Rose, who was once rumored to be cast by John Singleton in his unmade Tupac biopic.

Casting call controversy

On July 16, 2014, a casting call for extras for Straight Outta Compton was released on the Sande Alessi Casting Facebook page. The casting call was looking for African-American girls for the film using an A-D ranking scale. Though the "A girls" category was looking for drop dead gorgeous "classy" women of all colors, the "B through D" categories were very explicitly linked with skin-tone. As the women get less attractive, the casting call wants the women's flesh tone to be darker, with the lowest listing calling for "African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone." The casting call post went viral as people expressed their outrage of what they call colorism, sexism, and racism in the categorizing of black women. A representative for Sande Alessi Casting said the ad was an "innocent mistake" and when it comes to casting "poor" people, they're also looking for women of various skin tones and body types. As for the A,B,C,D grouping system, Sande Alessi Casting says "it's the usual method [they] use to look for different types of people for any project and it wasn't meant to offend anyone."

Filming

Straight Outta Compton was filmed in Compton, California and Los Angeles, California. Principal photography began on location in Compton on August 5, 2014. In early September 2014, principal exterior shooting on a large post-riot set was observed on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood.

Costume designer Kelli Jones says "the script was literally changing the entire time we were shooting, I mean literally the entire time. There would be days where I would get a call on Friday and they were like ‘oh by the way we’ve moved the pool party scene to Monday’ and the pool party scene had like 400 people and I needed to get 80s bathing suits, so there wasn’t a single weekend where me and my team were not working. It was insane!" Production Designer Shane Valentino says "We had 130 sets which is a lot of sets to try and deal with."

Violence on set

On August 12, 2014, TMZ reported that just seven days into filming in Compton, a drive-by shooting took place directly in front of the cast and crew members while they were on the set. A group of men standing outside the Compton Courthouse flashed gang signs at a passing car and passengers in the car opened fire on the group. No one affiliated with the film was injured or hurt, but one civilian near the set was shot. Despite the incident, it was announced that filming would continue to take place as planned in the city.

On January 29, 2015, Suge Knight was involved in a hit-and-run incident that left one man dead and another hospitalized. Witnesses claim that Knight followed the men after an argument on the Straight Outta Compton film set to a burger stand parking lot in Compton, and that the collisions looked intentional. Security footage video was released online in early March showing Knight running over both men but which Knight's attorney said helps his client's self-defense claim. Terry Carter, co-founder (along with Ice Cube) of Heavyweight Records and a friend of Knight, was killed. The second victim, filmmaker Cle Sloan, suffered a mangled foot and head injuries.

Release

Marketing

In December 2014, during a show in Sydney, Australia, Ice Cube gave concertgoers a sneak peek at a trailer for Straight Outta Compton. When an executive producer of the film, Will Packer, was asked if Cube told him he was going to show the trailer or did he "just put it out there?", Packer responded, "Cube does what he does." He added, "Cube is the man. We back him. And I love the fact that it's out there and it's getting the response that it's getting, that's what I'll say."

On February 8, 2015, Universal released the first official trailer for Straight Outta Compton. The red band trailer was preceded by an introduction featuring N.W.A members Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. A second global trailer for Straight Outta Compton was released on April 1, 2015, and was attached with theatrical screenings of Universal's Furious 7.

On August 7, 2015, to help promote the film, Beats by Dre launched a new app through the website StraightOuttaSomewhere.com. The app allows users to create a meme by uploading a picture with the "Straight Outta" logo and fill in the blank with a location of their choice. Some people did proclaim that they were "Straight Outta" a certain city or locale, while others uploaded funny images and phrases. In under 24 hours, over 78,000 "Straight Outta" images were downloaded on social media sites and over 6 million downloads were generated before the film's opening day. Inquisitr.com proclaimed, "It’s a successful viral photo campaign that is definitely bringing attention to the movie Straight Outta Compton."

Security concerns

Straight Outta Compton premiered on August 10, 2015 at the entertainment complex LA Live in Los Angeles, California. An earlier report by L.A. Weekly noted that the LAPD was "beefing up its presence" for the event and The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that organizers had "tripled security" for the red-carpet premiere. Due to concerns surrounding the violent content depicted in the film, it was reported that movie theaters were hiring extra security during the film's opening weekend and Universal Studios would be "reimbursing" theaters for the cost of adding that security. Universal would later state that the studio was not reimbursing theaters for extra security, but would be "partnering" with theaters seeking "support" during screenings of the film. No major incidents were reported at showings of the film during its opening weekend. Some critics said it was because of the extra security at some theaters, while others argued that it shows the extra security was unnecessary.

Box office

Straight Outta Compton grossed $161.2 million in North America and $40.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $201.6 million. Deadline.com calculated the net profit of the film to be $91.12 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.

In the United States and Canada, the opening weekend projections were continuously revised upwards, starting from $25 million and going as high as $60 million. The film made $4.96 million from Thursday night shows, which began at 7 p.m. in 2,264 theaters. After its strong Thursday night showing, Universal was able to add nearly 500 theaters for the film's opening weekend. Straight Outta Compton made $24.1 million on its opening day, which is the fourth biggest August opening in history. It finished first at the box office in its opening weekend, earning $60.2 million from 2,757 theaters. Its opening weekend total was the fifth-best August opening weekend of all-time, the highest in August for an R-rated film, and the highest for a musical biopic. After a strong first full week showing ($84.7 million in the US), Universal added Straight Outta Compton to over 200 more theaters. The film grossed $26.4 million in its second weekend and, again, finished first at the box office ahead of the week's new releases Sinister 2, Hitman: Agent 47, and American Ultra.

On August 27, 2015, Straight Outta Compton became the highest grossing music biopic of all-time in the United States with $120.9 million, passing the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line's $119.5 million total. Straight Outta Compton grossed $13.1 million in its third weekend and, once again, finished first at the box office ahead of the week's new releases War Room, No Escape, and We Are Your Friends.

On September 18, 2015 and with a domestic gross of $157.5 million, Straight Outta Compton surpassed Keenen Ivory Wayans' Scary Movie ($157 million) to become the all-time highest domestic grossing film from a black director in the United States. By September 21, 2015, the film had grossed $188 million worldwide to become the all-time highest grossing music biopic, surpassing Walk the Line's $186.4 million worldwide gross.

Home media

Straight Outta Compton was released on Digital HD on January 5, 2016 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and on Blu-ray and DVD on January 19, 2016. The Blu-ray version includes both the theatrical version and an Unrated Director's Cut, which featured 20 additional minutes of the film.

Reception

Critical response

Straight Outta Compton received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 88%, based on 196 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "Straight Outta Compton is a biopic that's built to last, thanks to F. Gary Gray's confident direction and engaging performances from a solid cast." On Metacritic, it has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling the film "enthralling" and "energized", praising the cast for delivering "strong, memorable work that transcends mere imitation." He called the film "one of the better musical biopics of the last 20 years." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post, also awarding the film a 3.5/4, called it "one of the summer's most entertaining and provocative movies", finding it "surprisingly candid" about the negatives in N.W.A.'s career for a film produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre themselves. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, again giving the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, also praised the film for its honesty in its portrayal of the group and praised Jackson's performance as Ice Cube, as well as the supporting cast, finding Mitchell's Eazy-E "award-caliber". However, he did wish that the film elaborated more on the group's troubles involving misogyny, homophobia and the media. Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal found the group's musical performances to be "far and away the most appealing parts of the picture." However, he criticized the film for slowing down towards the end, particularly when it gets "ploddingly sentimental" once it focuses on the decline and death of Eazy-E.

Scott Foundas of Variety praised director Gray for taking familiar biopic paces and bringing a "richness of observation to the table that transcends cliche." He also praised the film for its "high but never overindulgent" style and the attention to detail in the production, ranging from the "exhaustively researched" screenplay to the "meticulous care" involved in assembling the film's soundtrack. He stated, "if "Compton" is undeniably of the moment, it’s also timeless in its depiction of how artists and writers transform the world around them into angry, profane, vibrant and singular personal expression." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune stated, "Straight Outta Compton at its best evokes the heady atmosphere of Crenshaw Boulevard and what the group’s success meant to Compton, and vice versa. When the songs themselves take center stage the movie works. What remains in the wings constitutes another, fuller story."

In a polarized review, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times felt that the film attempted to take on more storylines than it could handle, also criticizing how bloated it becomes towards the end regarding Heller, though he did praise Giamatti's performance. Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian also criticized the film's second half for being "cheesy" and "[playing] it too safe". Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a C, feeling it had to rely on its timeliness for its thematic weight, and saying the film "simplifies N.W.A.’s arc to a gangster-movie knock-off about three friends from way back when who are driven apart by bad influences." The Washington Post noted the film's "lack of interest in process and personality" compared to the concurrently-released music biopic Love & Mercy, writing: "it’s no contest as to which Giamatti picture is the better depiction of the actual music-making process."

According to a poll conducted by Rentrak during the film's opening weekend, audiences gave the film a full 5 out of 5 stars, a rare achievement for any film, with most box office mega-hits usually rated at between 4 or 4.5 stars in the previous Rentrak polls. The film is very popular among the female moviegoers, with 74% of the male and 76% of the female audience giving the film a definite recommend – very high marks in Rentrak. The subject matter and plot were the primary reasons given by 38% of moviegoers for coming out to see Straight Outta Compton.

Historical accuracy

Reactions from the depicted

On June 10, 2015, MC Ren took to Twitter to voice his displeasure at the lack of exposure his character has in the Straight Outta Compton trailer, saying "Man fuck these bitches at universal pictures leaving me out the movie trailers tryin to rewrite history." and "When you have bitches work on a hip hop film that don't know shit about hip hop this is what happens. How the hell u leave me out after all". After the film's release, Ren tweeted, "True fans know my role in the group as far as lyrics are concerned, don't let the movie fool you about my contribution to the group." He later praised the filmmakers saying, "Congrats to the cast and crew. Great job of telling our story."

Despite being a founding member, Arabian Prince's contribution to the group has been ignored in the movie, and his character has a brief, uncredited cameo in the film. While going on record that he personally harbored no ill will towards the producers, Arabian Prince did note that it led to numerous inquiries and interview requests as to the possible reasons for such a revisionist approach. According to Arabian Prince, "Maybe for 50% of the [movie] scenes, I was there in real life, on stage, or in the studio. A lot of N.W.A's early music production was done with my equipment."

On August 24, 2015, Alonzo Williams referred to the film as "a great fusion of fantasy and reality", after admitting that he enjoyed the film. He disputed the accuracy of the scenes where he forbade gangsta rap from being played at his club, saying that the members of N.W.A had not started gangsta rap at that point. He also commented on the scene when Dr. Dre was bailed out of prison by Eazy-E, saying that Dr. Dre had been imprisoned several times for non-payment of parking fees and that he had an argument with Dre after having bailed him out of prison numerous times. When Alonzo refused to bail Dre out another time, Eazy-E bailed him out instead. Alonzo claimed that it was he who introduced Eazy-E to Jerry Heller.

Lawsuit from Heller

On August 27, 2015, Heller reported to the Los Angeles Times that he had seen the film: "I'm still not willing to comment right now on that movie because I think sooner or later it may be part of an ongoing litigation."

On October 30, 2015, Heller filed a 12-claim lawsuit against NBCUniversal, director F. Gary Gray, Legendary Pictures, the screenwriters of the film, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the estate of Eazy-E. As well as protesting his depiction in the film, Heller claimed that a significant amount of the film's content had been taken from his autobiography without permission. The defendants countered with a request that Heller's defamation charges be dismissed.

Misogyny and omissions

On August 17, 2015, Michel'le, Dr. Dre's former girlfriend and mother of one of his children, did an exclusive interview with Vlad TV. In the interview, the former Ruthless and Death Row Records artist ponders her and Dre's abusive relationship and she states that she was aware she was not included in the Straight Outta Compton film. "Why would Dre put me in it? I mean 'cause if they start from where they start from I was just a quiet girlfriend who got beat up and told to shut up."

On August 18, 2015, Gawker published an editorial by Dee Barnes titled "Here's What's Missing From Straight Outta Compton: Me and the Other Women Dr. Dre Beat Up". Barnes notes that Dr. Dre had repeated instances of physical abuse to female associates during his time in N.W.A, to include the infamous 1991 beating of Barnes in the bathroom of Po Na Na Souk nightclub. In the film, the incidents were never acknowledged. She further notes that important women from the era with close and historically important ties to N.W.A (JJ Fad, Yo Yo, Tairrie B, etc.) were absent from the film. In the end, most women portrayed in the film are partying groupies, with Barnes feeling that it could have also acknowledged the female MCs who contributed to N.W.A's and/or individual members' success. Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times revealed the Barnes incident was originally included in an earlier version of the film's script. On August 21, 2015, Dr. Dre responded, apologizing to "the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives." The next day, Apple Inc., which bought Beats Electronics for $3 billion in 2014 from Dr. Dre and made him an executive, weighed in on the abuse allegations to offer their support to Dre. Apple said in a statement, "Dre has apologized for the mistakes he's made in the past and he's said that he's not the same person that he was 25 years ago."

On August 26, 2015, Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film for leaving out the story of the all female rap group J. J. Fad and how some in the media claim the group was responsible for "forging a path for the breakout success of N.W.A."

Accolades

The film received numerous award nominations, including one for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

Award	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Awards	Best Intergenerational Film		Nominated
	Best Time Capsule		Nominated
Academy Awards	Best Original Screenplay	Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus	Nominated
African-American Film Critics Association	Best Picture		Won
	Best Ensemble		Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Jason Mitchell	Won
Alliance of Women Film Journalists	Best Ensemble Cast		Won
American Film Institute	Top Ten Films		Won
Black Film Critics Circle	Best Screenwriting (Original Screenplay)		Won
	Best Ensemble Performance		Won
	Top Ten Films		Won
Black Reel Awards	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Director	F. Gary Gray	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Jason Mitchell	Nominated
		Corey Hawkins	Nominated
	Best Breakthrough Performance (male)	Jason Mitchell	Nominated
		O'Shea Jackson, Jr.	Nominated
	Best Cast (ensemble)	Victoria Thomas & Cindy Tolan (casting directors)	Won
	Best Original or Adapted Song	"Talking to My Diary" - by Dr. Dre	Nominated
	Outstanding Original Score	Joseph Trapanese	Won
Casting Society of America	Big Budget – Drama	Cindy Tolan, Victoria Thomas, Meagan Lewis, Beth Sepko, Carolyn Pickman, Lucinda Syson, Pat Moran	Won
Critics' Choice Awards	Best Acting Ensemble		Nominated
Empire Awards	Best Male Newcomer	Jason Mitchell	Nominated
	Best Soundtrack		Nominated
Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Ensemble		Nominated
Georgia Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated
Hamptons International Film Festival	Breakthrough Performer	Jason Mitchell	Won
		Keith Stanfield	Won
Hollywood Film Awards	Hollywood Breakout Ensemble Award	Corey Hawkins, O'Shea Jackson, Jr. & Jason Mitchell	Won
Indiana Film Journalists Association	Best Film		Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society	Top Ten Films		Won
	Best Ensemble		Nominated
MTV Movie Awards	Movie of the Year		Nominated
	Best Breakthrough Performance	O'Shea Jackson Jr.	Nominated
	True Story		Won
NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Motion Picture		Won
	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Corey Hawkins	Nominated
		O’Shea Jackson, Jr.	Won
	Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture	Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus	Nominated
	Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture	F. Gary Gray	Nominated
National Board of Review	Top Ten Films		Won
People's Choice Awards	Favorite Dramatic Movie		Nominated
Phoenix Critics Circle	Best Musical		Won
Producers Guild of America Awards	Best Theatrical Motion Picture	Ice Cube & Matt Alvarez, F. Gary Gray, Dr. Dre, Scott Bernstein	Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Use Of Music In A Film		Nominated
	Best Ensemble		Nominated
Satellite Awards	Best Original Screenplay	Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus	Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Neil Brown, Jr., Paul Giamatti, Corey Hawkins, Aldis Hodge, O'Shea Jackson, Jr. and Jason Mitchell	Nominated
St. Louis Film Critics Association	Best Soundtrack		Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie – Drama		Pending
	Choice Movie Actor: Drama	O'Shea Jackson Jr.	Pending
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Acting Ensemble		Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Original Screenplay	Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus	Nominated

Music

Compton

Main article: Compton (album)

On August 7, 2015, Dr. Dre released the album Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre exclusively on Apple Music and the iTunes Store at first, then later released on other digital music platforms and in CD and vinyl form. Though not an official soundtrack to the film Straight Outta Compton, Dr. Dre said this album would be "inspired by the movie," Dre said on The Pharmacy, his radio show on Beats 1, that during principal photography of Straight Outta Compton, "I felt myself going to the studio and being so inspired by the movie that I started recording an album." He added, "It's an 'inspired by' album. It's inspired by Straight Outta Compton." Part of Straight Outta Compton's successful opening has been attributed to Compton: A Soundtrack, Dr. Dre's first collection of original music since his 1999's 2001 album, which was released a week prior to the film's premiere and debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 charts and No. 1 on the iTunes charts. Dr. Dre says he will donate royalties from his new album to the city of Compton for a new performing arts facility.

Soundtrack

An official soundtrack album to the film entitled Straight Outta Compton: Music from the Motion Picture was released on January 8, 2016 by Universal Music Enterprises. It features songs mainly by N.W.A, but also Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg and others.

External links

• Official website
• Straight Outta Compton at IMDb
• Straight Outta Compton at Box Office Mojo
• Straight Outta Compton at Rotten Tomatoes
• Straight Outta Compton at Metacritic
• Straight Outta Compton at History vs. Hollywood