Is Jordan Peele’s Latest an Oscar Contender? ‘Nope,’ But He Is Our Modern Day Hitchcock

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterJordan Peele’s latest nightmare, “Nope,” has crossed $100 million at the domestic box office, marking the director’s third feature film (out of three) to achieve that benchmark.After three weeks on the big screen, the film’s North American tally stands at $100.32 million.“Nope” — starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as siblings who discover something spooky hovering around their family’s ranch — is one of the few original movies to cross the $100 million mark in pandemic times. When it comes to movies that aren’t based on existing brands or franchises, only director Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic “Elvis” ($137 million) and the Sandra Bullock-led romantic comedy “The Lost City” ($105 million) have surpassed the coveted threshold in 2022.

Did you know that there’s a hidden meaning to the title of Nope?!

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Zack Sharf SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have seen “Nope,” in theaters now. A November 2014 social media post from Jordan Peele has resurfaced following the release of his third directorial effort, “Nope,” due to the filmmaker revealing he had a disturbing dream about a chimp attack.“Dreamt that a baby chimp attacked some people then ran to me and hugged me all scared,” Peele wrote on Twitter nearly eight years ago. “I woke up with tears streaming down my face.”A chimp attack factors prominently into “Nope,” although it’s a side story that only thematically connects to the main narrative about two siblings (Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya) on a mission to record a UFO above their horse farm.

Donna Mills was used to keeping tight-lipped about many a juicy plot twist.But the TV legend had to cope with a whole new level of top-secret security clearance when she signed on to appear in director Jordan Peele’s latest creepy hit “Nope,” which just opened atop the box office this weekend.“I’d signed an NDA, and I couldn’t tell anybody [about it],” Mills, 81, told The Post about her as role as Bonnie Clayton in a key early scene of the sci-fi thriller. “I mean, I literally couldn’t tell my daughter.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterJordan Peele, of all filmmakers, shouldn’t be surprised that the conversation around “Nope’s” box office performance has stirred up several hot takes.The director’s cerebral science-fiction thriller took in $44 million in its box office debut, easily leading domestic charts and impressively landing one of the biggest opening weekends in years for a film that’s not based on existing IP.And yet, there’s still debate about the film’s first weekend in theaters, with suggestions that initial numbers for “Nope” were “disappointing” or “lackluster.” Like any good Peele movie, there’s plenty to unpack about opening weekend revenues for “Nope.” And in fairness, the movie — starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as siblings who discover something spooky around their family’s ranch — had a lot to live up to at the box office. “The bar has been raised so high,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior ComScore analyst.Peele can thank his last film, 2019’s doppelgänger horror story “Us,” for those sky-high expectations.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaJordan Peele’s “Nope” grossed a solid $6.4 million in Thursday previews as it looks to be the rare blockbuster with a brain to succeed at the summer box office. The plot of the science-fiction horror film has been shrouded in mystery, but reviewers have likened “Nope’s” supernatural elements to Steven Spielberg classics such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”The Universal release is expected to top the domestic box office, but estimates vary about what it will ultimately rack up, ranging from predictions of a debut of $45 million to something in the $60 million neighborhood.

Jordan Peele‘s much-anticipated third film, “NOPE,” hits theaters this weekend, and Universal Pictures has done a great job keeping the movie’s secrets under wraps. Plot details for the film remain scarce even days before its release.

Jordan Peele is known for bringing nightmares to the silver screen, but dreams a little bigger and moviegoers will have the chance to actually step into the world of his latest horror entry.The Oscar-winning director and ’s cast chatted with ET’s Rachel Smith at Universal Studios Hollywood, where the set of Jupiter’s Claim, a pivotal location in the movie, is becoming part of the iconic attraction.“This is a piece of the set that is a sort of mom-and-pop theme park owned by a former child star in the film, so it's very meta,” Peele explains. “It's on the Universal backlot tour and it's the first time anything like this has happened, where the actual set is showcased as the movie is coming out.”He adds, “I am very proud.”As Peele noted, until Jupiter’s Claim, the debut of a attraction has never before opened day and date with the corresponding project's release date.

Jordan Peele is a humble guy.

wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “Can you think of another horror director that had 3 great films, let alone 3 in a row? I can’t.”Peele, while flattered, was quick to jump in and cite who’s actually the greatest horror filmmaker of all time.

“Nope” director and comic book creator Adam Ellis got into a Twitter war on Wednesday regarding who is the GOAT of the horror genre.“I know this is a hot take but at what point do we declare Jordan Peele the best horror director of all time?” Ellis tweeted yesterday.He continued: “Can you think of another horror director that had 3 great films, let alone 3 in a row? I can’t.”He also posted screenshots of the Rotten Tomatoes scores for Peele’s films, “Get Out” (98%), “Us” (93%) and “Nope” (89%).“I’m open to discussion but if you’re coming into my mentions to say Get Out and Us are anything less than modern classics you might as well just show yourself out because I’m not open to that (wrong) opinion,” he concluded.Peele was having none of it and jokingly shut down the statement. Sorry.

Jordan Peele has carved out an impressive niche for himself in horror films, thanks to the success of Get Out and Us, with momentum building for a similar surge on his new film, Nope.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor“Nope” director Jordan Peele thought it might be taking things a little too far when a fan proposed he could be the best horror director of all time.“I know this is a hot take but at what point do we declare Jordan Peele the best horror director of all time?” wrote comic book creator Adam Ellis Wednesday morning on Twitter. “Can you think of another horror director that had 3 great films, let alone 3 in a row? I can’t.”Though he was flattered, Peele objected to being ranked ahead of one of his favorite veteran filmmakers, John Carpenter of “Halloween,” “Christine” and “The Thing” fame.“Sir, please put the phone down I beg you,” Peele tweeted in response.

Angelique Jackson When Keke Palmer got a call from Jordan Peele asking her to star in his latest film, “Nope,” she was quick to jump at the chance to join the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s mysterious project. After all, she’d already DM’d him on Instagram about a year earlier hoping to work together.Upon reading the script — which centers on Emerald Haywood (Palmer) and her brother OJ (Daniel Kaluuya), children of a Hollywood horse trainer who begin to witness mysterious events at their inland California farm — Palmer was struck by the trajectory of her character.“She’s of so many archetypes, from the jester to the orphan — she’s so skillfully created,” Palmer told Variety on the carpet at the world premiere of “Nope” on Monday night.

the 2017 horror hit nobody saw coming, which thrust Peele and star Daniel Kaluuya into the stratosphere and netted a Best Picture Oscar nomination. But pass-the-popcorn “Nope,” which reunites the pair, is entertaining, smart, artful summer fare with its heart planted firmly in the 1980s heyday of blockbuster films. Just when you think, “They don’t make ’em like this anymore,” Kaluuya rides in on a horse.I’ll be careful not to reveal more secrets than I have to, but it’s OK to say that Kaluuya’s character OJ and his extrovert sister Emerald (Keke Palmer) are California animal trainers for film sets. Their family-owned ranch is called Haywood’s Hollywood Horses, and lately, business has been in a slump since their more experienced dad died mysteriously — he fell off his steed, and a quarter was found lodged in his brain.Soon after the tragedy, the horses begin having mysterious temper tantrums and regularly run off into the mountains.

Nope” is writer/director Jordan Peele’s latest genre-bending experiment in terror and it is certainly his most ambitious.The story of OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) and his sister Emerald (Keke Palmer), part of a family of Black stunt performers, who are menaced by a UFO following the mysterious death of their father (Keith David), expands the scope of his previous films, gently nudging it into summer blockbuster territory. (Steven Yeun plays the proprietor of a western theme park next door to the Haywood ranch who has secrets of his own.) Of course, this being a Jordan Peele movie, it is also ambitiously structured, provocative, and symbolically rich.We got to chat briefly with Peele about a missing shot from the teaser trailer (of a crab crawling over a miniature living room), the importance of animals in his movies (never more important than in “Nope”) and what some of his inspirations were for his big summer movie.You must know that people are going to pick these things apart. There’s a crab in the teaser trailer that isn’t in the movie …Oh my God.

“The Horse in Motion.”)The soft-spoken, laconic OJ remains committed to the day-in, day-out labor of maintaining the ranch, while his brash sister has other show-business ambitions. With live animals increasingly phased out by CG, OJ finds himself having to sell horses to a neighboring Wild West–themed amusement park managed by former child star Jupe (Steven Yeun), who survived a traumatic incident that occurred during the shooting of a ’90s sitcom.That’s before OJ and Emmy come to realize that a UFO is hovering over the ranch, and they set out to make their fortune documenting it.

Peculiarly shaped mirrors, Jordan Peele’s movies harness genre conventions, in varying degrees of success, to package ideological inquiries in exciting narrative vehicles where collective fears and biases are projected. To look into his intellectually adventurous pop confections means to confront those scary reflections while being utterly entertained.