NWA Biopic Breaks Records As It Smashes Box Office Expectations

The newly-released biopic Straight Outta Compton was expected to open to solid numbers in the US this past weekend, but nobody would have seen this coming. 

The film, based on the true story of seminal hip hop outfit NWA, not only smashed the box office as it made its way to #1, but it is also broke some very important records. 

While it was predicted that the biopic, which has also received acclaim from critics and fans, would close out the opening weekend to take in $25 million, it breezed past those numbers to earn an estimated $56.1 million.

According to Fortune, Straight Outta Compton has claimed the highest opening for an R-rated movie in August, as well as the top opening for a musical biopic, almost doubling the previous record-holder which was 2005's Walk The Line which opened to $22.3 million. 

It also beat out a number of popular hip hop films including 2002's 8 Mile, loosely based on the life of Eminem, which brought in $51.2 million on its opening weekend, as well as Notorious - the 2009 film about the late Notorious BIG which opened to $20.5 million.

Meanwhile Australian cinema-goers have to wait until 27 August to check the film out upon its national cinema release, however this week's ARIA Charts are telling of fans' anticipation. 

Dr Dre's first album in 16 years, which was inspired by the film, Compton debuted on the Albums Chart at #1 — check out all the ARIA Charts action from last week here.