Credit: Universal Pictures

“Straight Outta Compton” debuted to an amazing $56.1 million this weekend in 2,757 theatres. The movie not only surpassed “American Pie 2,” but it is also the biggest ever August debut for an R-rated movie.

The biopic about the rap group N.W.A. included Ice Cube and Dr Dre, who helped produce the film about the early days of gansta rap. The two were important to the movie’s marketing campaign.

“The movie tapped into something in our culture and that made it more of a must-see,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.

The movie doubled its budget of $29 million in a single weekend, meaning the film could be one of the most profitable releases of the summer.

Universal domestic distribution chief Nick Carpou said that “Straight Outta Compton” is a “labor of love.” He also added that the storyline took advantage of being dramatically different from the kind of films flooding cinemas in recent months.

“The public was ready for something with a bit more substance that they could identify with,” he said.

The film’s opening weekend crowd was 52% female, 51% under the age of 30, 46% African-American, 23% Caucasian, 21% Hispanic and 4% Asian.

Credit: Universal Pictures