In just three short weeks, Gary Gray’s Straight Outta Compton has broke a box office record.
Not only is the film still number one at the box office, but it is now the highest-grossing musical biopic in history!
According to Box Office Mojo, Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter respectively, held the title with a box office gross of $119.5 million. Straight Outta Compton, the film about iconic hip-hop group N.W.A., has earned over $134.1 million.
The new reveal pushes Jamie Foxx’s Ray into third place, Sissy Spacek’s Coal Miners Daughter in fourth place, and La Bamba rounds out the top five.
Straight Outta Compton stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., as his father Ice Cube, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Neil Brown Jr. as DJ Yella and Aldis Hodge as MC Ren, and chronicles the formation, rise and split of N.W.A.
Although it’s been at the center of controversy, the film has garnered serious attention from celebrities, including Selma director Ava DuVernay.
The film’s content even prompted the real Dr. Dre to issue an apology for his treatment of women during this time period — though, as pointed out, Straight Outta Compton doesn’t fully depict the events that occurred.
According to CB, combined with the ticket sales from Fifty Shades of Grey, Furious 7, Minions,Jurassic World, Pitch Perfect 2, and Universal’s other releases of 2015, Straight Outta Compton continues to lead the studio towards a ridiculous year. And it’s not even over! Before the year’s end, Universal will release Legend, in which Tom Hardy plays both leads; the Steve Jobs biopic starring Michael Fassbender; Guillermo del Toro’s horror story Crimson Peak, which is being co-financed with Legendary; the adaptation of Jem and the Holograms; the star-studded Mount Everest film; Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s By the Sea; the horror film Krampus; and the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy Sisters.
