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.

It becomes a local hit, and Eazy, Cube, Dre, DJ Yella, and MC Ren form the group N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes").

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, make him even more famous and controversial.

His debut solo album, The Chronic (1992), sells over 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.

Learning that Heller had been embezzling money from Ruthless from the beginning, he fires him and decides to rekindle his friendships with Cube and Dre, who agree to an N.W.A reunion.

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.

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.

"[21] On February 21, 2014, director Gray announced a March 9, 2014 open casting call for the film in Gardena, California, via his Twitter account.

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.

[40] In early September 2014, principal exterior shooting on a large post-riot set was observed on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood.

[54] In October 2017, transcripts from a grand jury hearing earlier in the year indicated Knight allegedly gave multiple menacing warnings to director F. Gary Gray during filming.

Although Gray would testify he did not recall any calls or texts threatening his safety (a move Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes referred to as intentional perjury out of fear), Knight was allegedly angry at his depiction in the film and that he was not compensated for his portrayal.

[55] In December 2014, during a show in Sydney, Australia, Ice Cube gave concertgoers a sneak peek at a trailer for Straight Outta Compton.

The app allows users to create a meme by uploading a picture with the "Straight Outta" logo and fill in the blank with a location of their choice.

[86] The film grossed $26.4 million in its second weekend and again finished first at the box office, ahead of the week's new releases Sinister 2, Hitman: Agent 47, and American Ultra.

[91] The film grossed $13.1 million in its third weekend and, once again, finished first at the box office ahead of the week's new releases War Room, No Escape and We Are Your Friends.

The site's consensus reads, "Straight Outta Compton is a biopic that's built to last, thanks to F. Gary Gray's confident direction and engaging performances from a solid cast.

[98] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, also giving the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, praised the picture for its honesty in its portrayal of the group and complemented Jackson's performance as Ice Cube, as well as the supporting cast, finding Mitchell's Eazy-E "award-caliber".

However, he criticized the film for slowing down towards the end, particularly when it gets "ploddingly sentimental" once it focuses on the decline and death of Eazy-E.[100] Scott Foundas of Variety praised director Gray for taking familiar biopic paces and bringing a "richness of observation to the table that transcends cliche."

He stated, "if Compton is undeniably of the moment, it's also timeless in its depiction of how artists and writers transform the world around them into angry, profane, vibrant and singular personal expression.

"[102] In a mixed review, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times felt that the film attempted to take on more storylines than it could handle, also criticizing how bloated it becomes towards the end regarding Heller, though he did praise Giamatti's performance.

[citation needed] On June 10, 2015, MC Ren took to Twitter to voice his displeasure at the lack of exposure his character had in the Straight Outta Compton trailer, saying "Man fuck these bitches at universal pictures leaving me out the movie trailers tryin [sic] to rewrite history" and "When you have bitches work on a hip hop film that don't know shit about hip hop this is what happens.

"[115] Despite being a founding member, Arabian Prince's contribution to the group has been ignored in the movie, and his character has a brief, uncredited cameo in the film when the album cover for 'Straight Outta Compton' is shown momentarily.

While going on record that he personally harbored no ill will towards the producers, Arabian Prince did note that it led to numerous inquiries and interview requests as to the possible reasons for such a revisionist approach.

In the interview, the former Ruthless and Death Row Records artist ponders her and Dre's abusive relationship and she states that she was aware she was not included in the Straight Outta Compton film.

"[122] On August 18, 2015, Gawker published an editorial by Dee Barnes titled "Here's What's Missing from Straight Outta Compton: Me and the Other Women Dr. Dre Beat Up."

In the end, most women portrayed in the film are partying groupies, and Barnes felt that it could have also acknowledged the female MCs who contributed to N.W.A's and individual members' successes.

[123] Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times revealed the Barnes incident was originally included in an earlier version of the film's script.

[129] Dre said on The Pharmacy (his Beats 1 radio show) that during principal photography of Straight Outta Compton, "I felt myself going to the studio and being so inspired by the movie that I started recording an album."