Straight Outta Compton is a 2015 American biographical drama film that tells the story of hip-hop group N.W.A's rise and fall under manager Jerry Heller. The film, directed by F. Gary Gray, stars O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E, respectively. Released by Universal Pictures on August 14, 2015, the film received positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $201.6 million worldwide. Straight Outta Compton earned several awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a win for Outstanding Motion Picture at the 47th NAACP Image Awards.
Plot
In 1986, Compton, California, Eazy-E narrowly evades a police raid at a crack house. The following day, Dr. Dre is struggling with what he wants to do in life and is confronted by his mother for missing a job interview. Meanwhile, Ice Cube is a high school senior aspiring to become a rapper. Intrigued by Cube's "reality raps" reflecting on the crime, gang violence and police harassment that they and other African Americans have endured recently, Dre convinces Eazy to fund a startup record label, Ruthless Records, with Dre as record producer. When their song "Boyz-n-the-Hood" is rejected by a New York rap group, Dre convinces Eazy to perform it instead. It becomes a local hit, and Eazy, Cube, Dre, DJ Yella and MC Ren form the group N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes").
Eazy accepts Jerry Heller's offer to manage N.W.A and co-run Ruthless, and Priority Records offers N.W.A a record deal. While recording their debut album, Straight Outta Compton (1989), the group is harassed by police due to their race and appearance, prompting Cube to compose a diss track—"Fuck tha Police"—toward the police. Having witnessed the altercation and being disgusted by the officers, Heller allows the track without hesitation. The album becomes a controversial hit due to its explicit lyrics, and the group's style is dubbed gangsta rap by the press. During a 1989 concert tour, the FBI demands that N.W.A not perform "Fuck tha Police", claiming that it encourages violence against law enforcement. Police in Detroit forbid them from performing the song, but they perform it anyway. The concert stalls and the police arrest the group, resulting in a riot that results in their release.
Heller delays the individual members' contracts with Ruthless, and when he insists that Cube sign without legal representation, Cube leaves the group. His debut solo album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990), is released, but when Priority Records is unable to pay him his advance on his next album, he wrecks the label head's office.
When N.W.A heavily insults Cube on their next record, 100 Miles and Runnin' (1990), he responds with the diss track "No Vaseline", criticizing them and Heller. This, combined with Cube's association with the Nation of Islam, outspoken criticism of the Los Angeles Police Department in the wake of the beating of Rodney King, and a starring role in the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, makes him even more famous and controversial.
Dre hires the imposing Bloods gang member Suge Knight as his manager after Knight proves that Heller has been underpaying him. Dre leaves N.W.A to form Death Row Records with Knight, who has his men threaten Heller and beat Eazy-E to pressure them to release Dre from his contract with Ruthless. Dre enjoys his newfound freedom and begins working with other rappers, including Tupac and then-newcomer Snoop Dogg. His debut solo album, The Chronic (1992), sells more than five million copies and is critically acclaimed, even as he becomes concerned about Knight's violent behavior and the community is rocked by the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Eazy, whose fortunes and health have declined, is devastated by the comparative success of his former bandmates. Learning that Heller has been embezzling money from Ruthless from the beginning, Eazy fires Heller, and decides to rekindle his friendships with Cube and Dre, who agree to an N.W.A reunion. During the reunion, Eazy collapses and is admitted to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Amid emotional visits from his bandmates, Eazy dies on March 26, 1995, and is mourned by fans.
Dre parts ways with Knight and Death Row a year later to form his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Cube subsequently becomes successful as a film actor, and Dre finds success as a producer and entrepreneur. Several famous rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and 50 Cent credit Dre with helping to launch their careers, and Beats Electronics, which Dre co-founded, is bought by Apple Inc. in 2014 for $3.2 billion.
Cast O'Shea Jackson Jr. as O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson Sr. Corey Hawkins as Andre "Dr. Dre" Young Jason Mitchell as Eric "Eazy-E" Wright Neil Brown Jr. as Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby Aldis Hodge as Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson Paul Giamatti as Jerry Heller Marlon Yates Jr. as Tracy "The D.O.C." Curry R. Marcos Taylor (credited as R. Marcus Taylor) as Marion "Suge" Knight LaKeith Stanfield as Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus Alexandra Shipp as Kimberly Woodruff Corey Reynolds as Alonzo Williams, club owner and member of Dr. Dre and DJ Yella's pre-N.W.A group World Class Wreckin' Cru Tate Ellington as Bryan Turner, head of Priority Records Sheldon A. Smith as "Warren G" Griffin III Carra Patterson as Tomica Wright, Eazy-E's girlfriend and eventual wife. Elena Goode as Nicole Threatt, Dr. Dre's wife Keith Powers as Tyree Crayon, Dr. Dre's half-brother Mark Sherman as Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records LaDell Preston plays Jerome "Shorty" Muhammad, member of Ice Cube's post-N.W.A group Da Lench Mob Cleavon McClendon as Anthony "Sir Jinx" Wheaton, a member of Ice Cube's pre-N.W.A group C.I.A. Rogelio Douglas Jr. as Carlton "Chuck D" Ridenhour of The Bomb Squad, producers of Ice Cube's solo album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted Steve Turner as "Keith Shocklee" Boxley, member of The Bomb Squad Tyron Woodley as Terry "T-Bone" Gray, member of Ice Cube's post-N.W.A group Da Lench Mob Marcc Rose as Tupac Shakur, with Darris Love providing the character's voice F. Gary Gray as KDAY disc jockey Greg Mack Brandon Lafourche as Kim "Arabian Prince" Nazel Orlando Brown as Block Demetrius Grosse as Rock Matt Corboy as Journalist
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 in talks to direct the film. In April 2012, Gray was selected as director. Gray had worked with Ice Cube on the film Friday and Dre on 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 of that year, hired Jonathan Herman to write a new draft of the script and brought in Will Packer to executive produce, alongside Adam Merims, Alan Wenkus 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 FBI, 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.Ice Cube: NWA biopic set for shooting in April . The Voice Online (2014-02-20). Retrieved on 2014-04-11.
On June 18, 2014, Universal officially announced that the film 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, LaKeith 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. Rose later reprised the role of Shakur in the first and only season of the true crime drama series Unsolved.
Casting of female extras 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 "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 was accused of 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 are 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 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. While shooting in California, the production spent $50 million in the state and received the California Film & Television Tax Credit.
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 were not working. It was insane!" Production designer Shane Valentino said "We had 130 sets which is a lot of sets to try and deal with."
Violence on set