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N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton is still resonating with audiences —  it topped the box office for the third week in a row and made history as the highest grossing musical biopic ever.

USA Today reports the film raked in $134.1 million domestically, taking over the highest grossing biopic title from the Johnny Cash feature Walk The Line. The 2005 release, featuring Joaquin Phoenix as the late country music legend, made $119.5 million.

The film’s stars celebrated at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday evening. O’Shea Jackson Jr. presented an award with his father Ice Cube and mentioned how it was an honor to play him. Jackson Jr. was also thrilled that his favorite athlete, Kobe Bryant, got to check out his first movie.

Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for the movie tracking firm Rentrak, believes the strategic August release helped the film’s success.

USA Today reports:

“Straight Outta Compton is taking full advantage of being a great movie released at a great time in the movie calendar,” Dergarabedian said. “There’s just not a lot of competition out there.”

The growing buzz and clever marketing also helped. A week before its release, a photo generator site was created by Beats By Dre in support of the film. Celebrities like LeBron James, YG, and Dr. Dre himself used it to represent their hometowns.

Fans were also able to upload photos of themselves, leading to hilarious results.

No matter the reason for the box office smash, Straight Outta Compton brought out all kinds of fans and sparked a conversation about the narrative of hip-hop music, police brutality, and free speech.

Which group would you like to see depicted on the silver screen? Let us know in the comments below.

SOURCE: USA Today | VIDEO CREDIT: NDN 

SEE ALSO: 

NewsOne Now: “Straight Outta Compton” Preview

 NEWS ROUNDUP: “Straight Outta Compton” Grabs $56M During Opening Weekend…AND MORE

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