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Felix Quinonez: I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the themes and topics of the movie are very relevant these days. The movie takes place in the late ‘80s-mid ‘90s but it seems like it could be happening today. A lot of it mirrors current headlines and gives the movie a sense of timeliness and importance. Aside from that, Universal did an amazing job at marketing the movie. Also, the fact that it finally got Dre to put out an album must have helped some too. And when you add in the fact that it's apparently a good movie, you have a recipe for a hit. But I don't think anyone expected it to be this big.

Ben Gruchow: I'm going to piggyback on Edwin's answer, more or less; I think this film's performance is a combination of factors, no one of which would've produced this result on their own. The critical reception is significant; NWA's contribution to music and the industry is significant. A big factor, though, is that it (as Edwin said) struck a nerve. It's because of the stories surrounding Charleston; Freddie Gray; Walter Scott, and others; it's because racial tension is - from what I've gathered from trailers and snippets of description, seeing as how I didn't get a chance to see the film this weekend and I'll need to wait until tomorrow or Tuesday - a significant aspect of the film, and it's a real-world topic that's more alive this year than ever.

I'd say that the real-world news stories that accompanied this movie's release compounded a desire to see it...not just the tracking and pre-release buzz, which gave a pretty good indication of a sizable opening weekend, but stories of certain theaters not booking the film, and others that are screening it but do so while hiring security services that Universal is paying for (this last one...there's a valid point to be made that the movie theater might not be considered a safe place with any film, and security services in general aren't the worst idea, but this has got to be the worst possible opening to decide to act on it from a PR perspective, no matter what the theater's motivations are). Really, I think Universal just picked a good release date and contracted with a firm that cut good trailers. Everything else - the quality, the real-world influence - is pretty endemic to the film itself.

Ryan Kyle: I do not have much more to add that hasn't already been covered besides just saying, "Wow! Universal Marketing kills it again." The music biopic genre's previous watermark was a $22.3 million opening for Walk the Line back in 2005, so for this film to crush it by more than $30 million speaks volumes. I'd be interested to see how much higher the opening weekend could have been if the theater count wasn't 2757, but like Man from U.N.C.L.E.'s ultra-wide 3,638 theaters (a number it might reach if Universal is aggressive over the next two weekends with expansion). With nothing formidable on the books next week, I wouldn't be surprised if Compton found itself on top again and maybe for the rest of August if Zac Efron's We Are Your Friends doesn't connect.

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