A CINEMA goer had acid thrown over him in the car park after an argument broke out during a gangster film.

A 27-YEAR-OLD had acid thrown over him in a car park following an argument during a screening of gangsta-rap biopic Straight Outta Compton.

The 27-year-old is in hospital being treated for potentially life-changing injuries after watching the

gangsta-rap biopic Straight Outta Compton and being attacked at the Crawley Leisure Complex between 1am and 1.30am on Sunday.

It is thought the incident may have started when the victim and another man, 29, were watching the film at Cineworld.

The attackers were described as two white men aged in their late 20s or early 30s.

One had dark short hair and a beard and was wearing a bag across his shoulder, the other was wearing a white or light grey hoody and jeans.

Both were in a dark-coloured Peugeot car.

Detective Sergeant Laura Diamond, of Crawley CID, said: "This was an isolated but nevertheless nasty and unprovoked assault.

"We are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen an altercation either within the cinema or later in the car park outside."

The victim, from Redhill, was initially sent to East Surrey Hospital for treatment, but has since been transferred to Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for specialist care.

Queen Victoria is a specialist hospital which deals with burns.

Straight Outta Compton tells the story of rap group NWA and their early life in troublesome Los Angeles.

On August 12, 2014, TMZ reported that just seven days into filming in Compton, a drive-by shooting took place directly in front of the cast and crew members while they were on the set.

During that incident a group of men standing outside the Compton Courthouse flashed gang signs at a passing car and passengers in the car opened fire on the group.

No one affiliated with the film was injured or hurt, but one civilian near the set was shot.

On January 29, producer Suge Knight – who is depicted in the film - was involved in a hit-and-run incident that left one man dead and another hospitalised.

When the film premiered in Hollywood on August 10, it was reported security had been tripled amid fears of violence.