Could There Be Dueling 'Straight Outta Compton' Sequels?

In spite of being one of the most popular and successful movies of the year, Straight Outta Compton may not get an official sequel or spin-off. Universal has denied a rumor that it is working on a follow-up to its hit N.W.A. biopic, but that doesn't mean someone else can't produce a feature focused more on Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Suge Knight and the story of Death Row Records.

There's actually already one -- maybe two -- biopics on Shakur in the works. Now the gunned-down rapper, who is also portrayed in Compton and the much earlier Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious, could be looking at another depiction via an adaptation of the documentary and book combo Welcome to Death Row, both by S. Leigh Savidge and Jeff Scheftel. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, APA is looking to develop Welcome to Death Row into a feature, though like the documentary this project might not contain any of the music it's telling the story of due to rights issues. Savidge, apparently an expert on hip-hop history, is also a credited cowriter and coexecutive producer of Compton, which also didn't initially have music rights attached. 

If Universal wanted to work with Savidge on this, the rights could be worked out and Keith Stanfield (Snoop), Marcc Rose (Shakur), R. Marcos Taylor (Knight) and Corey Hawkins (Dr. Dre), as well any others, could reprise their roles from Compton in what could even be the next step in a Suge Knight cinematic universe. 

But Universal's denial of a sequel already in the works would need to be legitimate. That was in response to a continued claim by Tha Dogg Pound's Daz Dillinger that the sequel is coming and is specifically about Snoop Dogg and his collaborators (including Daz and fellow Tha Dogg Pound member Kurupt), plus Shakur, Warren G (Sheldon A. Smith in Compton) and Nate Dogg, titled Dogg Pound 4 Life.

Maybe those two things can combine as one. It doesn't even need to be an official sequel or have any of the same actors, just as long as we get more quality '90s rap biopics like Compton. Movies like that shouldn't be flukes.