Straight Outta Compton (2015 film)

Synopsis

The film chronicles the background history of the group N.W.A, its members and the dynamics of their relationships with each other, from the bands inception, to growing success and stardom until the eventual disbanding.

Development

In March 2009, it was announced that the film was in development at New Line Cinema, with writers S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus 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 Im 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 were 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 has worked with Ice Cube in the film Friday and Dr. Dre in the film Set It Off. By 2013, the film had been picked up by Universal Pictures, who hired Jonathan Herman in December 2013, to write a new draft of the script and brought in Will Packer to executive produce.

Casting

Casting calls began in the summer of 2010. There had been rumors of Lil Eazy E playing his late father Eazy-E, and Ice Cubes son and fellow rapper OShea Jackson Jr. playing his father as well. Ice Cube said of the movie, "Were 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 its interesting to anybody who loves that era and I dont 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 Darryl Gates and the battering ram."

On February 21, 2014, director F. Gary 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 backed due to casting delays.

On June 18, 2014, Universal officially announced that the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton would be released in theaters August 14, 2015. It was also confirmed that Ice Cubes son, OShea Jackson Jr., will play a younger version of his father in the movie. OShea Jr. will join Jason Mitchell and Corey Hawkins who will portray group members Eazy-E and Dr. Dre, respectively, in the film. In early July 2014, casting directors for the N.W.A biopic issued a casting call for extras and vintage cars in the Los Angeles area for scenes in the movie. 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.As 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" has been filmed for the movie. Entertainment Weekly reported that the role of Tupac Shakur in the film will be played by newcomer Marcc Rose, who was once rumored to be cast by John Singleton in the upcoming Tupac biopic.

Filming

Straight Outta Compton began filming on location in Compton, California 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.

Marketing

On February 8, 2015, Universal Pictures released the first official trailer for the film 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 attached with theatrical screenings of Universals Furious 7.

Controversies

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 womens 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, theyre also looking for women of various skin tones and body types. As for the A,B,C,D grouping system, Sande Alessi Casting says its the usual method they use to look for different types of people for any project and it wasnt meant to offend anyone.

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 of the film Straight Outta Compton. 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 right next to the set was hit. Despite the incident, it was announced that filming would continue to take place as planned in the city.

In December 2014, during a show in Sydney, Australia, Ice Cube gave concertgoers a sneak peek at the first Straight Outta Compton trailer. When asked about the trailer leak, executive producer of the film Will Packer stated "Cube does what he does." He added, "Cube is the man. We back him. And I love the fact that its out there and its getting the response that its getting, thats what Ill say."

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, California, and that the collisions looked intentional. Security footage video was released online in early March showing Knight running over both men but which Knights attorney said helps his clients self-defense claim. Killed was Terry Carter, co-founder (along with Ice Cube) of Heavyweight Records and a friend of Knight. The second victim, filmmaker Cle Sloan, suffered a mangled foot and head injuries.

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 dont know shit about hip hop this is what happens. How the hell u leave me out after all".

Reception

Straight Outta Compton has received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 90%, based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. On Metacritic, it has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".