As I told you earlier this week, Straight Outta Compton, the NWA biopic from director F. Gary Gray (above, center), will star Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (bottom left) as Ice Cube and Jason Mitchell (below center) as Eazy E. Mitchell was an aspiring rapper/actor working in a kitchen when he was cast. Now there’s an official press release from Universal, complete with a first look at the cast and a release date (August 14th, 2015). Playing Dr. Dre will be Corey Hawkins, who’s had a handful of (really) small parts, last in Liam Neeson’s Non-Stop. NWA of course stands for “Neighbors With Attitude.”
Universal Pictures will release STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON on Friday, August 14, 2015.
About STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON tells the astonishing story of how these youngsters revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.Starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday, Set It Off, The Italian Job). The drama is produced by original N.W.A. members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, who are joined by fellow producers Matt Alvarez and Tomica Woods-Wright. Will Packer serves as executive producer of the film alongside Gray.
I was half expecting the press release to include a number for people to call if they have any information on the whereabouts of MC Ren. Anyone? Is he alive? Is he going to be in the movie, or are they just going to rewrite his character as a generic friend played by Nick Cannon? Gotta have comic relief somehow, I guess.