Former Nwa manager Jerry Heller has filed a $110 million lawsuit over the summer blockbuster Straight Outta Compton.
Heller is accusing Universal Pictures, Ice Cube, Dr Dre and Eazy-e's estate of unfairly portraying him as a "bad guy" in the Nwa biopic, reports TMZ.
The Ruthless Records co-founder is seeking $35 million in compensatory damages and another $75 million in punitive damages, in addition to all box office profits.
Straight Outta Compton has made nearly $200 million since its August release, when it topped the Us box office charts.
Among Heller's complaints about director F Gary Gray's film are scenes in which actor Paul Giamatti portrays Heller manipulating Nwa into signing unfair contracts and withholding as much as $75,000 in earnings from the group.
He says that another scene – in which Suge Knight coerces recording rights from Eazy-e – was stolen from his own 2006 memoir Ruthless: A Memoir.
All parties involved in the suit...
Heller is accusing Universal Pictures, Ice Cube, Dr Dre and Eazy-e's estate of unfairly portraying him as a "bad guy" in the Nwa biopic, reports TMZ.
The Ruthless Records co-founder is seeking $35 million in compensatory damages and another $75 million in punitive damages, in addition to all box office profits.
Straight Outta Compton has made nearly $200 million since its August release, when it topped the Us box office charts.
Among Heller's complaints about director F Gary Gray's film are scenes in which actor Paul Giamatti portrays Heller manipulating Nwa into signing unfair contracts and withholding as much as $75,000 in earnings from the group.
He says that another scene – in which Suge Knight coerces recording rights from Eazy-e – was stolen from his own 2006 memoir Ruthless: A Memoir.
All parties involved in the suit...
- 10/30/2015
- Digital Spy
It was inevitable that following the success of "Straight Outta Compton," hip hop movies would be the next flavor-of-the-month. A feature adaptation of the documentary and book, "Welcome to Death Row," is currently being shopped around town as a quasi-sequel to 'Compton,' focusing on the reign of Suge Knight and the years that saw Tupac and Snoop Dogg becomes the faces of West Coast rap. However, Universal is turning the back the clock to an era before gangster rap swept the nation. Read More: Review: F. Gary Gray's N.W.A. Biopic 'Straight Outta Compton' Deadline reports that the studio is working on a movie based on Russell Simmons' memoir "Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, + God." The movie will track the rise of hip hop from the underground to the mainstream, which was aided by the work done by the folks at Def Jam, who were behind acts like Beastie Boys,...
- 9/16/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In spite of being one of the most popular and successful movies of the year, Straight Outta Compton may not get an official sequel or spin-off. Universal has denied a rumor that they're working on a follow-up to their hit N.W.A. biopic, but that doesn't mean someone else can't produce a feature focused more on Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Suge Knight and the story of Death Row Records. There's actually already one -- maybe two -- biopics on Shakur in the works. Now the gunned-down rapper, who is also portrayed in Compton and the much earlier Biggie Smalls biopic, Notorious, could be looking at another depiction via an adaptation of the documentary and book combo Welcome to Death Row, both by S. Leigh Savidge and Jeff Scheftel. According to The Hollywood...
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- 9/5/2015
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
Welcome to Death Row, L. Leigh Savidge’s book and acclaimed documentary, could go on to become the sequel to box office sleeper hit Straight Outta Compton, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Savidge, who served as producer on the hit biopic about famed rap group N.W.A., is just one of the concepts currently being shopped around for the inevitable follow-up, with last week bringing word that Daz Dillinger was pushing ahead with a sequel to the breakout hit despite Universal denying that any progress has been made. Under the moniker Dogg Pound 4 Life, the sequel would carry on where we left off with Straight Outta Compton, picking up the story strands revolving around the likes of Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Warren G, Kurupt, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Suge Knigh.
Should the studio pursue Savidge’s source material, though, the follow-up would chart the rise to prominence of...
Savidge, who served as producer on the hit biopic about famed rap group N.W.A., is just one of the concepts currently being shopped around for the inevitable follow-up, with last week bringing word that Daz Dillinger was pushing ahead with a sequel to the breakout hit despite Universal denying that any progress has been made. Under the moniker Dogg Pound 4 Life, the sequel would carry on where we left off with Straight Outta Compton, picking up the story strands revolving around the likes of Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Warren G, Kurupt, Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Suge Knigh.
Should the studio pursue Savidge’s source material, though, the follow-up would chart the rise to prominence of...
- 9/4/2015
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
According to THR, talent agency Apa is out shopping Welcome To Death Row, a biopic based on the documentary and book of the same name by Straight Outta Compton co-executive producer S. Leigh Savidge. The film would essentially be a sequel of sorts to Compton, since it would feature many of the same figures as the N.W.A. biopic. While Compton chronicles the rise and breakup of seminal gangsta rap group N.W.A... Read More...
- 9/4/2015
- by Jesse Giroux
- JoBlo.com
With the unprecedented critical and box office success of N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton, some of those involved are, not unnaturally, musing ways to follow it up. One such in particular is Compton co-executive producer L. Leigh Savidge, who's now in the early stages of turning his book and documentary Welcome To Death Row into a narrative feature.The story, touched on in Straight Outta Compton, would delve further into the formation, rise, copious feuds and controversy surrounding Dr Dre and Suge Knight's label Death Row Records: home of breakout megastars like Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur and many others (including Dre himself).Those four principal players have already, of course, been cast in Compton: Corey Hawkins as Dre, Keith Stanfield as Snoop, Marcc Rose as Tupac and R. Marcos Taylor as Suge. There's no guarantee at this stage that all or any of them would reprise their roles,...
- 9/4/2015
- EmpireOnline
On the heels of yesterday's news of a Dogg Pound biopic being in the works, and the immense success of "Straight Outta Compton"... A Death Row Records film is reportedly also in development, with talent agency Apa said to be shopping the project around, which will be titled "Welcome to Death Row," and will focus on the years after N.W.A formed, and all the acts that came after them, forging their own solo careers - rappers like Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, the aforementioned Dogg Pound and others. Of course, we can't forget about the rise of Suge Knight who would become one of the most powerful (and feared) executives in the business. The...
- 9/3/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Nwa biopic Straight Outta Compton has proven to be hugely successful at the box office, and now studios could be looking to cash in with a sequel.
Apa is reportedly shopping the re-issued 2001 documentary Welcome to Death Row as a possible follow-up to the film, despite the doc not possessing necessary music rights.
A Straight Outta Compton sequel is apparently already planned
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apa has put together a package that includes the film and a book of the same name.
Welcome to Death Row focuses on the years immediately after the rise of Nwa, which saw the likes of Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur experience hugely successful careers.
The documentary's writer and director S Leigh Savidge also played a significant part in the story development for Straight Outta Compton.
Watch a trailer for Welcome to Death Row below:...
Apa is reportedly shopping the re-issued 2001 documentary Welcome to Death Row as a possible follow-up to the film, despite the doc not possessing necessary music rights.
A Straight Outta Compton sequel is apparently already planned
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apa has put together a package that includes the film and a book of the same name.
Welcome to Death Row focuses on the years immediately after the rise of Nwa, which saw the likes of Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur experience hugely successful careers.
The documentary's writer and director S Leigh Savidge also played a significant part in the story development for Straight Outta Compton.
Watch a trailer for Welcome to Death Row below:...
- 9/3/2015
- Digital Spy
Now that Straight Outta Compton has become the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, taking the top spot at the box office for three consecutive weeks, some are beginning to ask: Can you turn rap history into a cinematic universe? According to The Hollywood Reporter, one agency hopes to do just that by making a film based on the 2001 documentary Welcome to Death Row, which Compton executive producer S. Leigh Savidge is pitching to studios as a sequel to the N.W.A biopic. The doc (and subsequent book of the same name) follows the pivotal rise and fall of Death Row Records during the ’90s. Its feature-film adaptation would include many of the same major players seen in Compton's third act — particularly label head Suge Knight and his star signees Tupac and Snoop Dogg — and would also flesh out Dr. Dre's timeline with the embattled label. (Compton rushes...
- 9/3/2015
- by Dee Lockett
- Vulture
Movies are following the pattern set by the record industry decades ago. No one believed in rappers from Compton until Nwa’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ got national attention, after which the La scene exploded. Now, with the biopic Straight Outta Compton taking the top box-office spot for three weeks running, agents and producers are scrambling to […]
The post ‘Welcome to Death Row’ Wants to Emulate Success of ‘Straight Outta Compton’ appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Welcome to Death Row’ Wants to Emulate Success of ‘Straight Outta Compton’ appeared first on /Film.
- 9/2/2015
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Universal.s latest success story, Straight Outta Compton, continues to dominate the box office even after its third week in theaters. So, where should this story go from here? While a recent statement from the studio seemed to squash rumors of a sequel, a new project is being shopped around that features many of the same figures from the hip-hop drama. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Welcome to Death Row is being shopped around for development as a feature film. Some critics (including yours truly) remarked that there was so much content covered in Straight Outta Compton on the rise, fall and aftermath of N.W.A. that it could.ve been split into multiple installments. Well, Welcome to Death Row, which is a 2001 documentary that spawned a book of the same name, centers on the years after N.W.A. formed. Ben Westoff of The Guardian called it "an ...
- 9/2/2015
- cinemablend.com
A version of this story first appeared in the Sept. 11 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Hollywood could be staying in Compton. In the wake of Straight Outta Compton's box-office success, Apa is shopping Welcome to Death Row, which features many of the same figures from the Universal hit. The agency has put together a package based on a book and documentary of the same name by S. Leigh Savidge, who received a story and co-executive producer credit on Compton. While Compton chronicles the rise and breakup of seminal
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- 9/2/2015
- by Tatiana Siegel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ahead of the national theatrical release of "Straight Outta Compton" this Friday August 14th, the documentary "Welcome to Death Row" has begun airing on VOD platforms for subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Bright House Networks, Rcn, Midcontinent Communications and many more. Per the press release, "Welcome to Death Row," which originally premiered in September 2001, "was the first film to tell the story of N.W.A., Ruthless Records and the birth of Death Row Records. This film is a gritty insider's look into the lives of the gang members who took street music to the mainstream – and brought violence, sex and money with...
- 8/12/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
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