Swaggering into theaters across North America, Straight Outta Compton beat all expectations, grabbing an estimated $56.1 million — and leaving The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the weekend’s other new wide release, which pulled in a meager $13.5 million, in its dust.
Universal’s R-rated Compton, the biopic about the groundbreaking hip-hop group N.W.A, produced for just $29 million, posted a best-ever opening for director F. Gary Gray and overshadowed other rap movies like Eminem’s 8 Mile, which bowed to $51.2 million in 2002, and Notorious, the story ofNotorious B.I.G., which opened to $20.5 million in 2009. The film could also claim the best August opening for an R-rated movie as well as the top opening for a musical biopic...