Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror pic Nope opened its U.S. box office with a strong $6.4 million in Thursday previews, according to Universal.
In 2017, Peele redefined the horror genre with Get Out, followed by Us two years later. This time, the innovative filmmaker throws sci-fi into the mix.
Nope reunites Peele with Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya, who stars alongside Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun as the residents of a remote town outside Los Angeles who attempt to document a mysterious event involving an unidentified flying object.
Along with directing, Peele wrote and co-produced the Universal film through his Monkeypaw Productions.
Nope is aiming for a $50 million domestic debut, which would mark the best start for an original studio film since 2019 and continue this year’s surge at the summer box office.
Peele’s second Universal horror film Us opened to a record $71 million in 2019, while Get Out, his directorial debut, opened to $33 million in 2017 in on its way to becoming a cooler sensation and grossing $255 million worldwide. against a modest budget of $4.5 million.
Us , which earned $7.4 million in Thursday previews, eventually earned more than $255 million at the worldwide box office, scoring another win for the studio and the filmmaker.