Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror pic Nope started off its North American box office run 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 out, the innovative filmmaker interjects 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 of Los Angeles who attempt to document a mysterious event involving an unidentified flying object.
Along with directing, Peele wrote and co-produced the Universal movie via 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 the rebound at the summer box office this year.
Peele’s second Universal horror film, Us, opened to a record-breaking $71 million in 2019, while Get Out, his directorial debut, launched to $33 million in 2017 on its way to becoming a water-cooler sensation and grossing north of $255 million globally against a modest $4.5 million budget.
Us, which earned $7.4 million in Thursday previews, ultimately made $255 million-plus at the worldwide box office, scoring another win for the studio and the filmmaker.
