Jordan Peele’s latest movie Nope is set to reach the $100 million mark at the box office this week, making it Peele’s third movie in a row to cross that threshold. Peele, who also wrote and directed Get Out and Us, is known for his inventive, genre-bending movies that elicit horror, delight, and reflection from their audiences. On the surface, Nope is about people encountering an extra-terrestrial force at the only Black-owned horse training ranch in Hollywood. But many critics and fans have been dissecting the movie in search of what it may be saying about Hollywood exploitation, race, animal rights, and more. Nope stars Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea, and Michael Wincott.
Nope premiered in July of this year, and has received praise from critics, though it's not quite as universally critically acclaimed as Get Out. On its opening day, it made $19.5 million and had the highest-grossing opening weekend for any original movie since Us. As of August 7, Nope is third at the domestic box office, behind Bullet Train and DC League of Super-Pets, and ahead of Thor: Love and Thunder as well as Top Gun: Maverick.
Now, Erik Davis reports that Nope is poised to reach $100 million at the box office this week, as it’s now made nearly $98 million. So far, Nope has only been released in the United States and Canada, so that number doesn’t yet account for international box office performance. Us made $175 million at the domestic box office and $256 million at the worldwide box office, while Get Out also made $175 million at the domestic box office and $252 million globally.
Since Us and Get Out both made about the same amount, it’ll be interesting to see how Nope measures up in the long run, especially once it’s released abroad. An important difference to note is that Nope has a much higher budget than either of Peele’s previous projects - Get Out only had a $4.5 million budget, Us was made with $20 million, while Nope had a $68 million budget. That means the stakes are higher for Nope to take in more money than was spent to produce it.
It says a lot that the opening weekend numbers for Nope are being compared to Us, another Peele original screenplay. As it becomes increasingly difficult for filmmakers with screenplays not based on existing IP to get movies made, Peele stands out as a truly original filmmaker with a loyal audience. While it may be difficult for Nope to catch up with Peele’s previous films in terms of numbers, it does seem safe to say that if Peele is behind a movie, people will show up to see it.
Source: Erik Davis/Twitter