Originally announced more than a year ago, New Line’s N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton” finally has reemerged with a writer, for better or worse. THR gives word thatAndrea Berloff, famous for her “World Trade Center” script that Oliver Stone brought to the screen in 2006, will pen the picture of the controversial gangster rap group. Also a theater actress and producer, Berloff has found great success in the biz and is attached to at least three other writing projects.
Nearly every news story on this bit manages to make note that Berloff is white and, yes, she is in fact a woman. Why this really matters is unclear: with the right amount of research and intellect, she could have been in a cave since age two and still be able to write an interesting and realistic script. Last time we checked, Kathryn Bigelow was never an Army officer diffusing explosives. The next two Berloff projects are “The Fugees,” about a pair of refugee soccer kids and an as-yet-untitled work for HBO about the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, and similarly to the N.W.A. project, she was not a refugee nor an Iranian hostage in 1979.
For those who are unfamiliar with the N.W.A. story, the group consisted of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, MC Ren, and Arabian Prince (who left before Straight Outta Compton). The rap group is famous for their talent and hit song “Fuck tha Police.” Although banned on nearly every media outlet, the group still sold millions of records. Ice Cube left the group in 1990, and in 1991 the group disbanded. Ice Cube went solo and eventually ended up in Hollywood, Dre became one of the most famous hip-hop producers, Eazy-E went solo before dying of an AIDs-related death in 1995, MC Ren went solo and DJ Yella went on to produce and head his own adult film company DJ YELLA ENTERTAINMENT. Cripes.
The director’s chair is still vacant, and casting has not even been whispered about. Here’s hoping that they keep Ice Cube away from the cast list and hire fresh talent to play the members in the group. It would be nice to think that the remaining N.W.A. members won’t have a cameo, but chances are they probably will and it will probably be as corny as expected to be (fathers or mentors we’re sure). Though, a cameo in the vein of Leonard Nimoy’s in “Star Trek” would at least be kind of amusing.
