F. Gary Gray To Direct N.W.A. Biopic 'Straight Outta Compton,' Leaving George Nolfi & Russo Brothers For 'Captain America 2'

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by Kevin Jagernauth
April 10, 2012 4:02 PM
2 Comments

...and then there were two. It was just over a week ago when it was announced that Marvel was looking at George Nolfi ("The Adjustment Bureau"), F. Gary Gray ("Friday," "The Italian Job") and Joe and Anthony Russo ("Welcome To Collinwood," "You, Me & Dupree") for "Captain America 2" (which has since landed a April 4, 2014 release date). Well, it looks like one name is out of the running.

Deadline reports that F. Gary Gray has left to helm the brewing N.W.A. biopic "Straight Outta Compton." The movie was been in the works since at least 2009 and at least four writers -- Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus and Matt Alvarez -- involved (Berloff has the latest credit). Ice Cube is co-producing and we honestly figured this would be stuck in development hell like many of the hip hop movies brewing in Hollywood. And while John Singleton circled last fall, he has since moved while Gray has won the gig after being shortlisted alongside Craig Brewer and Peter Berg. THR adds that "Little Birds" director Elgin James and George Tillman ("Notorious," "Faster") were also in the mix.

So back to "Captain America 2" -- that leaves Nolfi and the Russo brothers for now, but with the movie still a long way off, Marvel has all kinds of time to make a decision (or choose someone else entirely). But hey, it looks at that N.W.A. movie is now going, so let the casting begin! Here's hoping they have an easier time finding someone to play Eazy-E than they did with the casting call for Tupac.

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More: F. Gary Gray, George Nolfi, Joe & Anthony Russo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Straight Outta Compton

2 Comments

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Connor | April 11, 2012 3:17 PMReply

George Nolfi should do it. The Adjustment Bureau was a really good film.
BEF | April 10, 2012 4:47 PMReply

F. Gary Gray doing NWA = best choice. Now that Craig Brewer is out of the running there, he should be the one directing Captain America 2, methinks, of all those mentioned in this entire article.