Kristen Wiig

Straight Outta Compton held the top spot for a third consecutive weekend with $13.134 million, becoming only the third film this year to do so, after Furious 7 and Jurassic World. With a domestic cume of $134.02 million, F. Gary Gray’s N.W.A biopic became the highest-grossing music biopic at the domestic box office before adjusting for ticket-price inflation – and the third-highest after making such adjustments.

Scott Mendelson of Forbes notes that Compton should pass Walk the Line’s (2005) inflated domestic cume of $151 million in the coming weeks, but should fall short of Coal Miner’s Daughter’s (1980) inflated $202 million. Both biopics took best-actress Oscars; while Compton won’t do the same (the film lacks substantial female roles), the raves, audience love, and a successful motion-picture academy screening suggest it could go far in the race.

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Low costs and smart filmmaking make for a Gift that should keep on giving (via AceShowbiz)

Sure, last week’s No. 1 debut, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, holds the top spot over newcomer Fantastic Four, but that’s hardly the only box-office stunner this weekend.

Perhaps the best surprise is Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut, The Gift. The film, which also features Edgerton as an eccentric man whose intentions may or may not be insidious, ranks third with an estimated $12 million. Given its production budget of $5 million and marketing costs of roughly $2.5 million, The Gift already enters the books as a success – more so than any other nationwide debut, easily. (But more on those other nationwide bows later.)

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Awards and Such

Tracking the awards, one contender at a time

Box Office: War is Hardly Friendly

Box Office: The Gift Surprises

Toronto International Film Festival Opens with Demolition