'Straight Outta Compton' is not playing in Compton because the city has no movie theaters

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Straight Outta Compton movie theaters

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There are no movie theaters in Compton.

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The biopic "Straight Outta Compton" opened this past weekend and beat expectations by debuting at $60.2 million in ticket sales, making it the fifth largest August movie debut ever.

But residents from the namesake city have to drive to a nearby city (about 4 miles away) to actually watch the movie in a theater.

This quirk was first reported on Los Angeles' CBS network, and quickly posted to the "Not the Onion" subreddit (a forum dedicated to real news articles that sound satirical).

Fusion noted that "the median household income in Compton in 2013 was $42,953, 19% below the national median of $53,000; 26.3% of residents live below the poverty line, compared with 15.4% for the nation as a whole, according to U.S. Census data." The CBS local channel also indicated that there are current negotiations in place to bring an entertainment district, including a movie theater, to Compton, while Redditors pointed out that it's not unusual for cities in L.A. to lack a movie theater, because "they're part of the greater Metropolitan area and [anyone] can just drive a couple miles to find one."

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Perhaps by the time "Straight Outta Compton" gets a Hollywood style reboot, the origin city will have its own theater.

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