Aldis Hodge has been cast as MC Ren and Neil Brown Jr. as DJ Yella in Universal Pictures’ “Straight Outta Compton,” the biopic chronicling the rise of hip-hop group N.W.A.
They join O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell who have been cast as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, respectively. F. Gary Gray will helm.
Film is set in the mid-1980s, where five young men translated their experiences growing up on the streets of Compton, California into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority and gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation.
Cube and Dre will produce, along with Matt Alvarez and Tomica Woods-Wright. Will Packer serves as executive producer of the film alongside Gray and Scott Bernstein.
Pic bows Aug. 14, 2015. Exec VP of production Jon Mone and director of development Sara Scott will oversee the project for Universal.
Hodge, who is repped by Priluck Company and Paradigm, was most recently seen in the Fox Searchlight pic “The East” opposite Alexander Skarsgard. Brown Jr. is repped by Pantheon and David Dean Management and his past credits include “The Walking Dead,” “Battle: Los Angeles” and “Suits.”
