The Reason Everyone is Fascinated with ‘Straight Outta Compton’

Last year, Straight Outta Compton hit theaters. It’s the documentary of the hip hop band N.W.A. that, with a budget of just $28 million, has pulverized all analyst expectations with $200 million gross and was number one in the US box office plus Britain, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and Iceland. So, how could a film get so popular when there are no familiar faces and it’s about a hip hop group that dissolved more than 20 years ago?

Straight Outta Compton tells the story of Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (played by his son, O’Shea Jackson Jr.), MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) and DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr.), from the formation of NWA in 1986 to the death by AIDS of Mitchell in 1995. Here, we see a group of kids who survive one of the toughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles: Compton, at the peak of street violence unleashed by wars between drug gangs, and how they ended up as one of the most important bands in the history of hip hop.

On this trip, the spectator will witness shootings, chases, police oppression, disputes over business, disputes with authority and a big party in a hotel room that probably is the most honest sequence of a biography that puts a positive spin on its protagonists.

On Friday August 12, the premiere, most predictions pointed to box office sales of about $40 million. However, the numbers returned to the box office on Monday left the industry shocked: the film had grossed $60 million, and viewers who had seen it recommended it strongly on social networks.

Finally, at the end of its time on the American billboard, it recorded revenues of more than $160 million. As a result, it’s the most profitable music biopic in history, a title previously held by Walk the Line with $120million.

Today, this documentary could be August’s highest grossing 18+ film its first weekend. Director F. Gary Gray, is the highest grossing African American director in Hollywood history.

The keys to success for Straight Outta Compton

How did all these people ended up watching Straight Outta Compton? This is what most media experts have to say.

1. Release date. Since the summer blockbusters usually have more room for family films, we were left with a rather bleak billboard in August.

2. The theme of the film. In the middle of this wasteland of premieres, the audience suddenly found a different theme, away from romantic comedies, dystopian tragedies, superheroes franchises or bombastic dramas.

3. The marketing strategy of Universal Pictures. Most importantly, the distributor presented the history of N.W.A as the band that marked a milestone in the history of music, thus attracting music lovers and restless minds in general. They can now ensure that they are the big winner of the year in terms of box office collections (50 Shades of Grey, Fast and Furious 7, Jurassic World, The Minions, etc.).

4. The hype. Word of mouth and social media buzz incited the curiosity of many who were not initially interested in the documentary.

5. The reputation of its producers. Straight Outta Compton was produced by two former members of the band, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. The first, an influential musician and successful actor, and the second, of the most powerful businessmen in the world of hip hop. In 2014, he sold his music platform Apple Beats for $3 billion.

6. A highly topical film. Some of the storylines like police brutality, ghettos or social injustice, remain in force in the United States. And, for some years, they were also issues in Europe.