“Straight Outta Compton” set a record last night for an August opening with $24 million. The F. Gary Gray movie is looking at a $75 million weekend. Interesting, too, because Dr. Dre’s accompanying soundtrack sold 300,000 copies this past week and finished at the top of the charts. Rap is back!
(And just think: all those Dre fans are listening to the album on his Beats headphones.)
“Compton” tells the story of how Dre and his generation went from Compton to billionaire status. It’s quite a success story. And while the movie is making loads of money, Universal has a hidden cost in security at theaters where it’s playing.
Meantime, “The Man from UNCLE” is a bust. Last night the Henry Cavill- Armie Hammer spy flick did $4.9 million. The weekend is bleak with $12 million tops for Guy Ritchie’s effort. Warner Bros. has not had a happy summer. “Vacation” was a disaster. “Magic Mike XXL” and “Focus” were among the strike outs this spring and summer. Luckily “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “San Andreas” hit big.
But “UNCLE” doesn’t say much for Warner’s Superman, Henry Cavill. He’s a great looking guy, but there’s no heat around him. Hopefully the excitement over “Batman vs. Superman” will over come that.
It’s a tough business, that show business. Just ask 20th Century Fox, suffering the fall out from “The Fantastic Four.” The poor thing did $599 per screen last night. Like Cavill, the Human Torch doesn’t much have heat either.
