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Posts tagged as “Ice Cube”

"Straight Outta Compton" Debuts to Scorching $56.1 Million to Top Weekend's Box Office

Straight Outta Compton
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL

Straight Outta Compton” may take place more than two decades ago, but its themes of racial tension, poverty and police brutality still speak to moviegoers living in a post-Ferguson world.
The biopic about rap group N.W.A. debuted to a blistering $56.1 million this weekend in 2,757 theaters, surpassing “American Pie 2” to become the biggest-ever August debut for an R-rated movie. It’s the kind of opening usually reserved for so-called tentpole movies that trade in costumed heroes and special effects, not urban violence.
“The movie tapped into something in our culture and that made it more of a must-see,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
Its debut nearly doubles “Straight Outta Compton’s” budget of $29 million in a single weekend, meaning the film could be among the most profitable releases of the summer. N.W.A members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre helped produce the film about the early days of gansta rap and were integral to its marketing campaign.
Universal, the studio behind the music biopic, has been having a year for the ages, as a steady stream of hits such as “Jurassic World,” “Fifty Shades of Grey,” “Pitch Perfect 2,”  “Furious 7” and “Minions” have pushed its grosses to record heights. Legendary Pictures co-financed “Straight Outta Compton.”
“Straight Outta Compton’s” success overshadowed the weekend’s other new release, Warner Bros.’ “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” The stylish action-adventure wilted at the megaplexes, bringing in an etiolated $13.5 million from 3,638 theaters. That’s a particularly rough start considering that “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” cost a sizable $75 million to produce.
Universal domestic distribution chief Nick Carpou labeled “Straight Outta Compton” as a “labor of love” that benefited from being dramatically different from the kind of films flooding cinemas in recent months.
“The public was ready for something with a bit more substance that they could identify with,” he said.
The film’s opening weekend crowd was 52% female, 51% under the age of 30, 46% African-American, 23% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic and 4% Asian. It did not play in Imax or 3D, but did score in premium large format locations, where it grossed $5.1 million, representing 9% of the film’s weekend receipts.
In second place, Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” continued to get a lift from strong word-of-mouth, picking up $17 million in its third weekend. That brings the fifth film in the spy franchise’s North American haul to $138.1 million.
Fox’s “Fantastic Four” dropped steeply in its second weekend, falling nearly 70% from its debut and mustering a paltry $8 million. The film ranks as one of the biggest comicbook movie flops in history, having earned a meagre $42 million Stateside.
STX Entertainment’s “The Gift” rounded out the top five, earning $6.5 million this weekend and pushing its domestic total to $23.6 million.
Final numbers are still being tallied, but it looks as though “Straight Outta Compton” will bolster ticket sales over the year-ago period when “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” were drawing the biggest crowds.
article by Brett Lang via Variety.com

"Straight Outta Compton" Heading to $40 Million-Plus Opening This Weekend

Photo via slashfilm.com
Photo via slashfilm.com

The reviews so far have been great, Dr. Dre has already dropped his well-received companion album,  and  Variety.com predicts the F. Gary Gray-directed “Straight Outta Compton” is will open to over $40 million on box office receipts this weekend.  Made on a $29 million budget, “Compton” is already looking like the sleeper hit of the summer.
According to thegrio.com, director Gray (“Friday”, “Set It Off”, “The Italian Job”) teamed up with remaining members of the historic west coast rap group, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, Dre and MC Ren, (Eazy-E died in 1995) to tell the ups and downs of their incredible story.  The film, named for the title track on N.W.A.’s 1988 debut album, stars Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube), as well as Jason Mitchell (Eazy-E), Corey Hawkins (Dr. Dre), Neil Brown Jr. (DJ Yella) and Aldis Hodge (MC Ren).
A large part of the appeal of the film that is reaching beyond the built-in fanbase of N.W.A. is the timeliness of the subject and subject matter in the wake of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and continued revelations and exposés of nationwide police brutality and racism.  While “F**k The Police” stirred controversy when initially released, today it can be heard as prescient protest.
When asked how N.W.A. would respond to the social commentary of today, Gray thinks the revolutionary rap group would respond to #BlackLivesMatter similarly to how they reacted to what they were experiencing nearly 30 years ago. “Probably the same way they did back then. They were pretty frustrated. They spoke their mind,” he said.  “They were honest about it, and I think they would respond the same way. ‘Hey listen it’s time to change. It’s time for a change.’”
When it comes to hip-hop artists today, Gary, as well as Ice Cube, DJ Yella and O’Shea Jackson Jr., feel fellow Compton native Kendrick Lamar is truly influential and follows closely in the big footsteps that N.W.A. created.
“It’s hard to duplicate N.W.A., but I like what Kendrick Lamar is doing,” said Gary. “I like what J. Cole is doing. These guys are conscious, and at least I know Kendrick is from the streets of Compton and stuff like that, so they’re authentic. And I think a lot of that comes from the N.W.A. or at least era.”
Straight Outta Compton opens in theaters this Friday, August 14. Check out the trailer below:

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

It’s Official: Dr. Dre’s First Album in 16 Years Will Be Released Friday

As reported earlier today, Dr. Dre announced the release of his first album since 1999’s 2001 today on his The Pharmacy show on Apple Music. The album is titled Compton: The Soundtrack and will hit stores on August 7. He confirmed the album is completely different than the infamous Detox project and that it was inspired by the forthcoming N.W.A. biopic, “Straight Outta Compton” (8/14).
For any doubters, Dre has released both the album artwork and tracklist. The LP will feature vocals from Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Xzibit, Ice Cube, Jill Scott, Jon Connor, Marsha Amrosius, Snoop Dogg and many more. Check out the artwork and tracklist below.
compton-soundtrack-680x680
1) Intro
2) Talk About It (feat. King Mez & Justus)
3) Genocide (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Marsha Ambrosius & Candice Pillay)
4) It’s All On Me (feat. Justus & BJ the Chicago Kid)
5) All In a Day’s Work (feat. Anderson Paak & Marsha Ambrosius)
6) Darkside/Gone (feat. King Mez, Marsha Ambrosius & Kendrick Lamar)
7) Loose Cannons (feat. Xzibit & COLD 187um)
8) Issues (feat. Ice Cube & Anderson Paak)
9) Deep Water (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Justus)
10) Jon Connor – One Shot One Kill (feat. Snoop Dogg)
11) The Game – Just Another Day (feat. Asia Bryant)
12) For the Love of Money (feat. Jill Scott & Jon Connor)
13) Satisfaction (feat. Snoop Dogg, Marsha Ambrosius & King Mez)
14) Animals (feat. Anderson Paak)
15) Medicine Man (feat. Eminem, Candice Pillay & Anderson Paak)
16) Talking To My Diary
article by Parfit via ambrosiaforheads.com

Ice-T Breaks Down Why "Art of Rap" Festival in July is Important to Hip-Hop, Art and Music

Screen Shot 2015-05-02 at 1.14.35 PM
“The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is by far one of the most important records known to man.  A “total knock out of the park” as Public Enemy’s Chuck D once told Rolling Stone, the 1982 record marked a pivotal moment for hip-hop.  The first of its kind, at seven-minutes rapper Melle Mel and co-writer Duke Bootee traded clear-cut lines about the everyday struggle and decay in America’s ghettos. From the ubiquitous “broken glass” to the “junkies in the alley” and how the kids that are “born with no state of mind” end up succumbing to the live fast, die young statistic. It’s an monumental piece of recording that perfectly demonstrates the foundation on which hip-hop was founded.
Beyond that though, it’s also the very record that Mickey Bentson, co-founder of The Universal Zulu Nation, and Ice-T brought up during a phone conversation with REVOLT. “Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel made one of the hardest records ever: “The Message” with no cursing. Wow. That’s unbelievable,” Bentson exclaimed.  “Where you gonna get all this stuff at? Nowhere but at the Art of Rap Festival baby.”
In 2012, Ice-T chronicled the rich foundation and importance of the hip-hop into a one hour-and-a-half epic, better known as the critically-acclaimed documentary, “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap.” An intimate journey that uncovers the layers, elements, and science of hip-hop, the film took it back to the essence, while bringing along famous faces like Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Eminem, Q-Tip, Chuck D and many more for a discussion on the art form. Three years since he opened the conversation, Ice-T,  joined by Bentson, has added another layer (and new meaning) to the “The Art of Rap,” with an inaugural event he is calling “the most prolific and essential hip-hop festival ever.”
The Art of Rap Festival, which will take place over the course of two days in California, features a dream team line-up of emcees that range from Big Daddy Kane to Rakim, Afrika Bambaataa, EPMD, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Melle Mel, King T, Kurtis Blow, Biz Markie, and more. Just like the film, the festival, which will feature co-headliners including Game and Ice-T at its July 18th Irvine date and Ice-T at the July 19th Mountain View show, takes it back to the essence.
Speaking about the summer must-attend festival, Ice-T and Mickey Bentson hopped on the phone with REVOLT and discussed just how and why this event came together.
In 2012, Ice-T, you released this film and now it has transformed into a full blown festival. How did you two come together for this?
Ice-T: Well, [The Art of Rap] happened for me, I was sitting around and for a while when you would say you an emcee, people actually had this heavy respect for you. Well the point that when you would say ‘rapper,’ people would kind of look at you like a clown. Rappers were kind of acting up and I didn’t like that, so I said you know what I want to make a film that makes people really respect the art of rap. It’s not a game, it’s real stuff. I worked really hard on my music, I grew up with [Big Daddy] Kane and Rakim and people like that, and I said this is serious business. So we shot the film, it did what it was supposed to do, make people understand that it is an art form and the next obvious move was to take it on the road. The Art of Rap Tour is meant to be about the craft and the culture of hip-hop, so we go all the way from The Soulsonic Force to somebody like The Game.
As you mentioned, this festival is about the craft and culture. Why is this such an important element for this event? 
T: We want people to take pride in what they do. If you take pride in your music, you’re going to do good music. If you look at music as just a way to get paid, then you might throw up any ol’ shit, and you also ain’t gonna represent it right, [because] when you get interviewed you gonna say any ol’ s*** — and that bothers the artists. That’s like me coming into jazz and not knowing who Miles Davis was, and there’s going to be people who’s going to have feelings about that. 

Academy Award Winner Common Joins "Barbershop 3" Cast

common

 Common has committed to star in the ensemble cast of Barbershop 3, the MGM sequel that New Line will distribute. He joins Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer, who are reprising their roles from the first two movies, and The Best Man franchise director Malcolm D. Lee, who’s helming. Cube Vision is producing and MGM will run production. Bob Teitel and George Tillman Jr. of State Street Pictures are the lead producers. The script is by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver.

Common has been busy since winning the Oscar for Best Original Song in the film Selma. He is starring in the Rob Reiner-directed Being Charlie as well as the David Ayer-directed Suicide Squad and the Martin Campbell-directed Hunter Killer.
article by Mike Fleming Jr. via deadline.com

Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum to Open in NYC in 2017

hiphop-225x180Decades after hip hop music hit the streets of New York, and later, became an cultural phenomenon enjoyed by listeners around the world, it’s all coming back to the Big Apple, as a Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum is set to open in 2017.
“This will be the home of hip hop history,” museum Chairman JT Thompson told the NY Daily News. “People need to understand the importance of hip hop, the elements, the DJs, the B-boys and B-girls and the graffiti writers.”
The museum will open to the public at its location on 125th Street in 2017 and exhibits will feature memorabilia such as jackets, turntables and posters donated by artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast, Young Jeezy, Common and Eminem. There is also a planned juice and coffee bar, TV studio, shops and a dedicated youth media program.
article via hiphopweekly.com

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube’s "Ride Along" Cruising for a Sequel

Ride Along Movie

According to Variety.com, Universal Studios has started pre-production on a sequel to its hit buddy comedy Ride Along, with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart on board to reprise their starring roles.  Ride Along has topped $117 million in U.S. box office after five weekends, starting its run with three consecutive first-place finishes. The film was budgeted at a cost-effective $25 million.
Will Packer, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez and Larry Brezner will again produce. Tim Story is attached to direct again from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Universal signed the writers to script the sequel last year.  The decision to greenlight Ride Along 2 comes on the heels of the healthy opening of another Hart comedy, Sony’s About Last Night, which took in $27.8 million over the four-day weekend.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Kevin Hart/Ice Cube Comedy "Ride Along" Scores Rare 3rd Straight Top Box Office Finish With $12.3 Million

Ride Along Movie

Continuing its high-flying ride at the domestic box office, Universal’s stalwart holdover Ride Along posted its third straight weekend victory, estimating $12.3 million for a Stateside cume of $93 million and counting.  The Super Bowl weekend’s only two wide releases — Focus Features’ That Awkward Moment and Paramount’s Labor Day, both of which are targeted squarely at female audiences — underperformed, grossing $9 million and $5.3 million, respectively.
Internationally, Disney had another standout weekend with its toon all-star Frozen, which grossed an estimated $24 million from 45 territories, representing approximately 90% of the overseas market place.  So far, the film has collected north of $504 million internationally, with $360 million Stateside (pic’s sing-along re-release contributed $2.2 million out of a total estimated $9.3 million this weekend), making Frozen the second-highest grossing original toon of all time globally, behind Finding Nemo.  Domestic totals managed to stay in line roughly with this time last year, down just 2%, though first-quarter 2013 box office was especially mopey.
As the clear highlight so far this year, Ride Along’s third-straight win at the domestic box office matches what only three films total managed last year — The Butler, Gravity and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smug — none of which bowed during the first quarter.
Speaking of Gravity, Warner Bros.’ large-screen re-release of the Oscar-nominated 3D epic earned more than half of its $2 million three-day gross in Imax. Gravity has cumed nearly $264 million domestically in over four months.  Among the other Academy Award contenders, both American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street became milestone box office achievements for their respective directors: Hustle now stands as David O. Russell’s highest-grossing film, with $133.6 million, while Martin Scorsese’s Wolf is the director’s third-highest, at $104.1 million, surpassing The Aviator.
Film (Weeks in release): 3-day gross*; Locations; Per-theater average; Cume*; Percentage change

  1. Ride Along (3): $12.3; 2,867; $4,295; $93.0; -42%
  2. Frozen (11): $9.3; 2,754; $3,381; $360.0; +2%
  3. That Awkward Moment (1): $9.0; 2,809; $3,208; $9.0; –
  4. The Nut Job (3): $7.6; 3,472; $2,193; $50.2; -37%
  5. Lone Survivor (6): $7.2; 3,285; $2,180; $104.9; -44%
  6. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (3): $5.4; 2,907; $1,858; $39.0; -41%
  7. Labor Day (1): $5.3; 2,584; $2,051; $5.3; –
  8. American Hustle (8): $4.3; 2,216; $1,940; $133.6; -39%
  9. The Wolf of Wall Street (6): $3.6; 1,607; $2,209; $104.1; -35%
  10. I, Frankenstein (2): $3.5; 2,753; $1,279; $14.5; -59%

article by Andrew Stewart via Variety.com

"Ride Along" Tops Box Office for 2nd Week in a Row with $21.2M Take

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube
According to Variety.com, while Lionsgate’s I, Frankenstein failed to spark audience interest, delivering only an estimated $8.3 million in three days, the domestic box office still saw signs of life, thanks to solid holds from such films as the Kevin Hart/Ice Cube comedy Ride Along and the Mark Wahlberg-starrer Lone Survivor, which led with $21.2 million and $12.6 million, respectively.
In its second outing, Ride Along fell just 49%, lifting its Stateside totals to a sizable $75.4 million; while Lone Survivor, which dropped just 43% in its fifth frame, reached $93.6 million domestically.
The full list of this weekend’s Top 10 follows below:
Film (Weeks in release): 3-day gross*; Locations; Per-theater average; Cume*; Percentage change

  1. Ride Along (2): $21.2; 2,759; $7,670; $75.4; -49%
  2. Lone Survivor (5): $12.6; 3,162; $3,985; $93.6; -43%
  3. The Nut Job (2): $12.3; 3,472; $3,547; $40.3; -37%
  4. Frozen (10): $9.0; 2,757; $3,277; $347.8; -23%
  5. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2): $8.8; 3,387; $2,598; $30.2; -43%
  6. I, Frankenstein (1): $8.3; 2,753; $3,006; $8.3; –
  7. American Hustle (7): $7.1; 2,304; $3,082; $127.0; -28%
  8. August: Osage County (5): $5.0; 2,411; $2,091; $26.5; -32%
  9. The Wolf of Wall Street (5): $5.0; 1,804; $2,772; $98.0; -29%
  10. Devil’s Due (2): $2.8; 2,544; $1,081; $12.9; -67%

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Kevin Hart/Ice Cube Vehicle "Ride Along" Rolls into No. 1 Spot at Box Office

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart in a scene from "Ride Along." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Quantrell D. Colbert)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart in a scene from “Ride Along.” (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Quantrell D. Colbert)
The Kevin Hart/Ice Cube film Ride Along arrived in first place at the weekend box office.  The buddy cop comedy debuted with $41.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The strong opening for Ride Along marks the biggest debut for a film released during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend and puts it on track to top the $40.1 million record set by the 2008 monster movie Cloverfield for the biggest opening of January.
Ride Along is the first starring role for Hart, whose box-office status has been on the rise since the success of his 2013 stand-up film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain and memorable roles in such movies as Think Like a Man, This Is the End and Grudge Match.  “He’s everywhere it seems,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “I know he was co-starring with Ice Cube in Ride Along, but this really was marketed as a Kevin Hart movie. There’s no question he’s a movie star now who doesn’t require any qualifications before his name.”