Because any cultural phenomenon can now go from “destroying the fabric of polite society” to “ready for the multiplex” in two decades or less, the epic journey of gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A. is supposedly being condensed to 120 minutes of fun as I type this post. Hip-hop biopics have quite the ignoble history, with “enjoyably schlocky” being the best thing you can say about 95 percent of them. (Not that musical biopics as whole have a much better strike rate.) But at least Straight Outta Compton seems to have N.W.A.’s creative core on board, which gives one at least a teensy bit of hope.

The project will chronicle the rise and fall of the rap quartet, founded by Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and MC Ren, whose songs were so incendiary (i.e. “F—- tha Police”) they were banned from radio playlists but still sold millions of albums…The film’s producers, which include Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Tomica Wright (Eazy-E’s widow), and Circle of Confusion entertainment, are now actively searching for a director along the lines of Curtis Hanson (8 Mile).

The N.W.A. story certainly has plenty of potential juice for a slick melodrama, but while 8 Mile was a half-step up from late-night pay cable grade crud like Notorious, I’m not sure if Eminem’s wooden turn as “Sorta Eminem” was its only problem. No clue on who they should cast — your thoughts? — but I’m guessing the jokes about new school Cube being too lame and fatherly to play old school Cube will be stale in about…three hours.

N.W.A. biopic, ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ in development [Entertainment Weekly]