Upon its release 25 years ago, on July 12, 1991, “Boyz N the Hood” was recognized as an instant landmark film.
The coming-of-age drama about three young African-American men in South Central Los Angeles launched a decade’s worth of similar films. Plus, “Boyz” made a film star of veteran character actor Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” There, he met Fishburne, who played Cowboy Curtis on the show. Singleton promised the actor he’d write him a role where he didn’t have to wear a Jheri Curl. It would be another three years before he made good on the promise.
2. It was on another backstage job, this time on Arsenio Hall‘s talk show, where Singleton first met Cube. He promised the N.W.A. rapper he’d write a movie role for him, too. They’d meet again several times over the next three years before Singleton finally got to cast Cube as Doughboy.
3. Working as a script reader at Columbia Pictures, Singleton got his own script passed all the way to studio chief Frank Price. He was offered $100,000 for it on the condition that he let someone with more experience direct it, but he refused to sell “Boyz” unless he could direct his own screenplay.
4. Cast as Furious Styles, the movie’s lone father figure, when he was just 29, Fishburne was already a seasoned movie vet, having been cast as a sailor in Francis Ford Coppola‘s Vietnam epic “Apocalypse Now” when he was just 14. Singleton took “Coppola lessons” from Fishburne, learning second-hand everything the actor knew about the legendary director’s technique.
5. Coppola’s influence on “Boyz” is clear, from the “Godfather“-style cross-cut editing to the “Apocalypse”-like sound design behind the omnipresent police helicopters patrolling the neighborhood. Singleton never actually shows the choppers, he merely suggests them through rotor noise and sweeping spotlights. In fact, he pitched this helicopter hack to studio chief Price as a way of keeping the budget modest.
6. The sense of danger from the South Central filming locations was real. “The set was about 10 blocks from my house. I could have walked, except that probably wouldn’t have been the safest thing to do,” recalled the movie’s female lead, Nia Long.
Dialogue had to be re-recorded in the studio because of ambient noise — real-life helicopters and gunshots. A Bloods spokesman, who called himself Bone, warned producers that if they filmed the climactic scene of Doughboy killing two Bloods on Blood turf, he couldn’t guarantee that some angry Blood wouldn’t retaliate and shoot Cube for real. Singleton shot the scene elsewhere.
7. Long was nervous about shooting her sex scene with Gooding, never having shot one before. He tried to calm her by picking his toenails and acting silly, but the tactic backfired. “Do you honestly think that is helping?” Long told her co-star. “It’s making me want to throw up.”
8. “Boyz” cost just $6.5 million to produce. It earned back $57.5 million in North America.
9. Violence broke out at screenings of “Boyz” around the country, with one fatality and 33 moviegoers injured. Some observers blamed the movie’s gang content for the gunplay, even though “Boyz” was explicitly anti-violence. Singleton blamed the strife on the same social pathologies that the movie condemned — street codes of vengeance and the scarcity of strong paternal role models in the community.
10. “Boyz” was nominated for two Oscars, for Singleton’s original screenplay and his directing. At 24, he was the youngest person ever nominated for Best Director and the first African-American.
What an odd group. Danny DeVito, Khloe Kardashian, Norman Reedus, and Jimmy Fallon played charades together on “The Tonight Show” Wednesday night. Danny and Khloe were partners and Jimmy partnered with “The Walking Dead” star. Props to Norman for being game to get on all fours with little fingers waggling off his head to portray an ant for “Ant-Man.” Not sure Daryl Dixon would’ve pulled that off. Also, general charades tip: Familiarize yourself with the Electric Slide, in case it comes up.
The boys are back for 
During N.W.A.’s brief existence, the group and its members made a career out of being underestimated. A quarter century later, the underdog rappers have been underestimated again, even by the studio releasing their victory-lap biopic.
“UNCLE” was the only other wide release this weekend, and it underperformed even its modest expectations (predictions ran near $19 million), opening in third place with an estimated $13.5 million. The three-week-old “
“Compton” had even less star power than “UNCLE,” but even audiences too young to remember N.W.A. know the rap group’s co-founders, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. They’re still dependable entertainment brand names, and their oversight of this project lends it credibility. (It doesn’t hurt that Cube is played in the film by his own son,