Universal Planning ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Sequel With Snoop and Tupac?
Straight Outta Compton proved to be a huge and surprising success for Universal Pictures. The studio is having a record-breaking year riding the success of Jurassic World, Furious 7 and Minions, three unlikely properties they were able to develop into huge franchises. Could they do the same for Straight Outta Compton? While the story of Eazy-E, Dre and Ice Cube may not be something easily translated into a franchise, a new report claims that a pseudo-sequel is in the works that would follow the West Coast rap game, including breakout stars like Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur.
UPDATE: A rep for Universal Pictures confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that they have “no plans” for a Straight Outta Compton sequel. Separately, Ice Cube’s publicist disputes Daz Dillinger’s claim below that the rapper/Compton producer has given his blessing to the alleged project.
Now before you get too excited, this news hasn’t been confirmed by Universal and has slightly dubious sourcing. TMZ is reporting that former Tha Dogg Pound member Daz Dillinger told them a movie is in the works that would follow rappers like Snoop, Nate Dogg, Kurupt and Warren G as they hit it big in the 90s. Daz even drops a working title for the film, Dogg Pound 4 Life.
Daz’s version of events seems to be very Dogg-focused, but a more realistic approach to a sequel could focus on Death Row Records, the record company founded by Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C. and others. That would allow filmmakers to follow the end of Compton, where Dre tells Knight he’s leaving Death Row, and focus on Snoop and the career of Tupac, including the burgeoning feud with East Coast rappers like Notorious B.I.G.
Of course, this is all coming from Daz himself, so it’s unclear how serious any of these talks are. Daz notes that none of the cast members from Compton would be returning for this movie and Dre and Cube would have no part in it, other than giving the film their blessing. It’s not even clear if this film is even set up at Universal, or if Dogg Pound 4 Life has the music rights to any of these artists. (Tupac’s estate has long been trying to get a biopic of his own life made, which may conflict with this project.)
Surely, somewhere in Hollywood, well paid studio executives are trying to figure out some way to capitalize on the success of Straight Outta Compton. Whether that’s this project, something like it or something completely different, Compton has all but assured we’ll see more hip-hop movies in the near future.