''Nope'' (stylized as ''NOPE'') is a 2022 American
neo-Western
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
written, directed, and co-produced by
Jordan Peele under his
Monkeypaw Productions
Monkeypaw Productions is an American production company founded by Jordan Peele in 2012. The company is known for producing horror films, such as ''Get Out'', '' Us'', '' Candyman'', '' Nope'' and ''Wendell & Wild.'' In 2019, the company signe ...
banner. It stars
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and no ...
and
Keke Palmer
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP I ...
as horse-wrangling siblings attempting to capture evidence of an
unidentified flying object
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
. Appearing in supporting roles are
Steven Yeun,
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles.
Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...
,
Brandon Perea
Brandon Perea (born May 25, 1995) is an American actor, best known for his performance as Alfonso Sosa on ''The OA'' and his breakthrough role of Angel Torres in Jordan Peele's 2022 science fiction horror film '' Nope''.
Early life
Perea wa ...
, and
Keith David
Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media.
He has starred in such films as '' T ...
.
Peele officially announced his then-untitled third directorial film in November 2020. Palmer and Kaluuya joined in February 2021. Yeun was cast the next month, and Peele revealed the title in July 2021. Filming began in June 2021 in northern
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
, and wrapped in November.
''Nope'' premiered at the
TCL Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.
The original Chinese T ...
in Los Angeles on July 18, 2022, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 22, 2022, by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. It has grossed $171 million worldwide, and received praise for its ambition, performances, themes, cinematography, visual style, musical score, and Peele's direction, although the screenplay divided critics' reaction. It was also named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
.
Plot
![Muybridge race horse animated](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Muybridge_race_horse_animated.gif)
The Haywood family trains and handles horses for film and television productions. Otis Haywood Sr. is killed by a falling coin, which they presume fell out of an airplane. His children Otis "OJ" Haywood Jr. and Emerald "Em" Haywood inherit the ranch. To keep the business afloat, OJ sells some of the horses to Ricky "Jupe" Park, who operates a nearby
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
theme park named Jupiter's Claim. At the park, Jupe also monetarily exploits his traumatic past as a
child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...
on a
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
, being the only actor left unscathed when a
chimpanzee animal actor
Following is a list of animal actors. Those listed should have either a substantial number of performances or, in rare cases, a high-profile role.
, c. 1907–?
,
* ''The Kid Brother'' (1927) (uncredited)
* ''The Cameraman'' (1928) (uncredited) ...
who played a pet chimpanzee named Gordy maimed Jupe's other human co-stars on set before being shot.
One night, the Haywoods notice their electricity fluctuating and their horses vanishing and violently reacting to an unknown presence. They discover an
unidentified flying object
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
(UFO) shaped like a
flying saucer
A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...
that has been taking their horses, and then spitting out the inorganic matter, a piece of which caused their father's death. Motivated by a desire to save the ranch by selling footage of the UFO, the siblings decide to document evidence of the UFO's existence. They recruit
Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. While operating, it was headquartered in San Jose, California in Silicon Valley. Fry's retailed software, consumer electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, tools, toys, accessories, ma ...
employee Angel Torres to set up surveillance cameras. Electrical interference from the UFO and a
mantis
Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...
on one of the cameras prevent them from getting clear footage, but Angel notices a nearby cloud that never moves. They deduce that the UFO is using the cloud as camouflage.
Jupe introduces a live show in Jupiter's Claim and plans to use Lucky, one of OJ's horses, as bait to lure out the UFO, which has been feeding on the Haywoods' horses for months, in front of an audience. The UFO arrives but devours Jupe and the entire audience. OJ deduces that the UFO is not a spaceship, but a predatory, territorial organism and that it eats anything that looks directly at it. Utilizing similar methods to those used to break and train horses, OJ believes that they can influence the creature's behavior, and capture footage of it without being killed. Dubbing the creature "Jean Jacket" after a horse from their childhood, the Haywoods decide to hire cinematographer Antlers Holst for assistance. Holst initially refuses but eventually agrees after hearing about the Jupiter's Claim incident.
To circumvent Jean Jacket's effects on electronics, Holst brings a hand-cranked
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
film camera to capture footage. With Angel, the group devises a plan to bait out Jean Jacket, with a field of electrically-powered
tube man props to help them deduce its location in the sky. However, a
TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
reporter trespasses onto the field and is thrown from his electric motorcycle when it shuts down near Jean Jacket's presence. He is devoured by Jean Jacket while begging OJ to film the event. Though Holst can capture footage of Jean Jacket, his obsession with "the impossible shot" results in him being devoured along with his camera. Angel survives an attack from Jean Jacket by being wrapped in a tarp and barbed wire, causing the creature to unfurl from its saucer shape to a jellyfish-like form.
OJ intentionally looks directly at Jean Jacket to draw it away from Em, allowing her to use the motorcycle to rush to Jupiter's Claim. There, she untethers the park's large helium balloon mascot of Jupe. Jean Jacket attempts to feed on the balloon while Em uses a wishing well attraction's analog camera to photograph Jean Jacket from below before the balloon pops, seemingly killing Jean Jacket. With the picture as proof of the creature's existence and reporters arriving nearby, Em sees an unharmed OJ and Lucky standing outside of Jupiter's Claim.
Cast
*
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and no ...
as Otis "OJ" Haywood Jr., Otis' son
*
Keke Palmer
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP I ...
as Emerald "Em" Haywood, Otis' daughter
*
Steven Yeun as Ricky "Jupe" Park, a former child actor and owner/creator of the theme park "Jupiter's Claim"
** Jacob Kim as young Ricky "Jupe" Park, who plays Mikey Houston on ''Gordy's Home''
*
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles.
Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...
as Antlers Holst, a renowned
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
*
Brandon Perea
Brandon Perea (born May 25, 1995) is an American actor, best known for his performance as Alfonso Sosa on ''The OA'' and his breakthrough role of Angel Torres in Jordan Peele's 2022 science fiction horror film '' Nope''.
Early life
Perea wa ...
as Angel Torres, a tech salesman at
Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. While operating, it was headquartered in San Jose, California in Silicon Valley. Fry's retailed software, consumer electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, tools, toys, accessories, ma ...
*
Wrenn Schmidt as Amber Park, Jupe's wife
*
Barbie Ferreira
Barbara Seppe Ferreira (born December 14, 1996) is an American model and actress. She is best known for her role as Kat Hernandez in the HBO series ''Euphoria'' (2019–2022).
Early life
Ferreira was born in the New York City borough of Que ...
as Nessie, Angel's co-worker at Fry's
*
Terry Notary
Terry Notary (born August 14, 1968) is an American actor, stunt co-ordinator/double and movement coach. Notary mainly portrays creatures and animals for the film and television industry, and is known for his motion capture performances in films ...
as Gordy, a chimpanzee and star of the sitcom ''Gordy's Home''
*
Devon Graye as Ryder Muybridge, a paparazzo who rides an electric bike
*
Donna Mills
Donna Mills (born Donna Jean Miller on December 11, 1940) is an American actress. She began her television career in 1966 with a recurring role on ''The Secret Storm'', and in the same year appeared on Broadway in the Woody Allen comedy '' Don ...
as Bonnie Clayton, a commercial actress
*
Osgood Perkins
James Ridley Osgood Perkins (May 16, 1892 – September 21, 1937) was an American actor.
Life and career
Perkins was born in West Newton, Massachusetts, son of Henry Phelps Perkins Jr., and his wife, Helen Virginia (née Anthony). His maternal g ...
as Fynn Bachman, a commercial director
*
Eddie Jemison
Edward Francis Jemison, Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Livingston Dell in the '' Ocean's'' film trilogy and Mickey Duka in ''The Punisher'', as well as the television series '' H ...
as Buster, a crew member on the commercial
*
Keith David
Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media.
He has starred in such films as '' T ...
as Otis Haywood Sr., the owner of Haywood's Hollywood Horses Ranch
* Sophia Coto as Mary Jo Elliott, who plays Haley Houston on ''Gordy's Home''
** Haley Babula as Mary Jo Elliott (adult)
*
Jennifer Lafleur
Jennifer Lafleur is an American actress. She is known for appearing in the independent films '' The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' (2012), ''The Pretty One'' (2013), '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014), ''MAD'' (2016) and ''6 Years'' (2015). On television, Lafl ...
as Phyllis Mayberry, who plays Margaret Houston on ''Gordy's Home''
*
Andrew Patrick Ralston as Tom Bogan, who plays Brett Houston on ''Gordy's Home''
Themes and interpretations
The film has been characterized as containing themes related to
spectacle
In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French ''spectacle'', itself a reflection of the ...
and
exploitation
Exploitation may refer to:
*Exploitation of natural resources
*Exploitation of labour
** Forced labour
*Exploitation colonialism
*Slavery
** Sexual slavery and other forms
*Oppression
*Psychological manipulation
In arts and entertainment
*Exploi ...
.
''
GQ'' Gerrick D. Kennedy wrote that ''Nope'' "is a movie about spectacle. More specifically, our addiction to spectacle
..''Nope'' is about holding a mirror up to all of us and our inability to look away from drama or peril."
Kennedy also states that "the erasure of black contributions" to the history of filmmaking plays a significant role in the film.
Writer-director
Jordan Peele was partly inspired to write ''Nope'' by the
COVID-19 lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countri ...
and the "endless cycle of grim, inescapable tragedy" in 2020.
Richard Brody
Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999.
Education
Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He firs ...
of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' considered ''Nope'' to be a film about exploitation and the cinematic history of exploitation in film; he wrote that he thought the premise of the film was "acknowledging and extending cinema's legacy while also redressing its omissions and misrepresentations of history."
Brody also noted that the film's action "pivots on the power and the nature of movie technology", and felt that the film critiqued
computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...
(CGI) in its TV commercial production scene, writing, "Peele presents
GIas a dubious temptation and a form of dangerous power."
Brody interpreted the choice to have the space creatures target a black-owned horse farm as "a sardonic vision of the universality of racism".
''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' writer Jen Yamato noted that
Steven Yeun's Ricky "Jupe" Park attempts to profit off Jean Jacket with his "Star Lasso Experience" show, falsely believing that, because he survived the Gordy incident, he shares a similar kinship with Jean Jacket.
Zosha Millman of ''
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' argues that Jupe's belief that Gordy and Jean Jacket are well-intentioned, despite their capacity to be unpredictable and dangerous, contrasts with the life experience of
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and no ...
's OJ, "who grew up around unruly animals that it was his job to tame. As a horse trainer, he knows that animals are worthy of our respect. But it's not part of a grand design, or born from a special relationship with the horse. It's an animal, and it could kill you—but it can be tamed and worked with, if you know what you're doing."
Discussing Jupe's fate,
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles.
Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...
's character, Antlers Holst, makes mention of
Siegfried & Roy
Siegfried & Roy were a duo of German-American magicians and entertainers, best known for their appearances with white lions and white tigers. It was composed of Siegfried Fischbacher (June 13, 1939 – January 13, 2021) and Roy Horn (born Uwe ...
—a duo known for training
white lion
The white lion is a rare color mutation of the lion, specifically the Southern African lion. White lions in the area of Timbavati are thought to have been indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest ...
s and
white tiger
The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...
s—the latter of whom was attacked and severely injured by one of his tigers. ''
GameRevolution
''GameRevolution'' (formerly ''Game-Revolution'') is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots ...
''s Jason Faulkner further noted "Peele quoting
''Neon Genesis'' ''Evangelion'''s
Angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
as the principal inspiration for the film and the monster within", and of the true meaning of Jean Jacket's true form's resemblance to the
biblical description of angels; he notes the verse from
Nahum
Nahum ( or ; he, נַחוּם ''Naḥūm'') was a minor prophet whose prophecy is recorded in the ''Tanakh'', also called the Hebrew Bible and The Old Testament. His book comes in chronological order between Micah and Habakkuk in the Bible. ...
prefacing the film as indicative of Peele's thoughts on
the Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
, and how if one "think
about the way
ean Jacketfeeds and the concept of people
ascending to heaven,
ne canconnect the dots
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
Jean Jacket
s species hasbeen with humanity for a long time, and an attack from one of the creatures could
emisinterpreted as something from the divine."
When watching Gordy move about the wrecked set of ''Gordy's Home'', Jupe notices one of his co-star's shoes inexplicably standing upright; as an adult, Jupe has the shoe on display in his room of ''Gordy's Home'' mementos.
Millman, along with Cooper Hood of ''
Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
'', identify the mysteriously standing shoe as a possible example of a "bad miracle", a label which OJ uses when he and
Keke Palmer
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP I ...
's Emerald learn that they are seemingly dealing with a UFO.
Hood writes that the shoe standing up can be viewed as a "bad miracle" due to "the unexplainable nature of the phenomenon and how it happened during a tragedy. It plays into the movie's theme of turning tragic events into a spectacle, as Ricky is profiting off the collectible despite the trauma of its circumstances."
Yamato, however, questions if Jupe "merely imagine
the shoe standing impossibly in the air—and is he misremembering that just before being shot, Gordy turned to him in friendship?"
Yamato asserts that Jupe has disguised his trauma from the incident "under a veneer of
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
hustle and humor", and characterizes Jupe's experience as a child actor as one in which he was "exploited and then spit out by the fame machine
..and this sets him up to make the fatal mistake of underestimating a creature that's too dangerous to wrangle."
The scene itself would go on to be nominated for Best Scene at the
2022 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards, and the shot from it of Gordy and young Jupe's fists appearing to come close to a fist bump was named by Adam Nayman of ''
The Ringer'' as one of the best shots of 2022, comparing it positively to
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
’s ''
The Creation of Adam
'' Creation of Adam'' () is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives li ...
'' and relating it to "the feeling to recoil from an outstretched hand, especially one powerful enough to rip you limb from limb."
Production
Development
On October 1, 2019,
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
announced a five-year exclusive production partnership with Peele's
Monkeypaw Productions
Monkeypaw Productions is an American production company founded by Jordan Peele in 2012. The company is known for producing horror films, such as ''Get Out'', '' Us'', '' Candyman'', '' Nope'' and ''Wendell & Wild.'' In 2019, the company signe ...
. ''Nope'', then an untitled project, was announced on November 9, 2020, with Peele set to write, direct and produce. He said, "I wrote it in a time when we were a little bit
worried about the future of cinema. So the first thing I knew is I wanted to create a spectacle. I wanted to create something that the audience would have to come see." Speaking to ''GQ'', Peele stated, "So much of what this world was experiencing was this overload of spectacle, and kind of a low point of our addiction to spectacle." He added that he "wrote
he film
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
trapped inside, and so I knew I wanted to make something that was about the sky. I knew the world would want to be outside and at the same time, I knew we had this newfound fear from this trauma, from this time of what it meant to go outside. ''Can'' we go outside? So I slipped some of that stuff in."
Peele publicly cited ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'' and ''
Jurassic Park'', movies about humanity's addiction to spectacle, along with ''
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...
'', ''
Signs'', and ''
The Wizard of Oz'' as influences in his writing.
He later identified the
Angels of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' as the principal inspiration for the film's premise and monster in the film's production notes, impressed by the "hyper minimalism" and "biomechanical design flair" of
Sahaquiel, the 10th Angel.
He explained his decision to include a major focus on clouds in the film: "The beauty of the sky is enthralling—the first movies, in a way. Every now and then you'll see a cloud that sits alone and is too low, and it gives me this
vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
and this sense of Presence with a capital P. I can't describe it, but I knew if I could bottle that and put it into a horror movie, it might change the way people look at the sky."
Peele originally wrote the character of Angel Torres as a "happy-go-lucky" geek-like character until
Brandon Perea
Brandon Perea (born May 25, 1995) is an American actor, best known for his performance as Alfonso Sosa on ''The OA'' and his breakthrough role of Angel Torres in Jordan Peele's 2022 science fiction horror film '' Nope''.
Early life
Perea wa ...
was cast as the character, who wanted to expand upon the character and portray him as more grounded.
In February 2021, it was reported that Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya had joined the cast, while
Jesse Plemons turned down a role in favor of starring in ''
Killers of the Flower Moon
''Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI'' is the third non-fiction book by the American journalist David Grann. The book was released on April 18, 2017 by Doubleday. ''Time'' magazine listed ''Killers of the Fl ...
''. Peele wrote the script with Kaluuya in mind for the role of OJ Haywood. In March, Steven Yeun was added to the cast.
Filming
![Hiking Vasquez Rocks Nature Area (15302593394)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Hiking_Vasquez_Rocks_Nature_Area_%2815302593394%29.jpg)
Principal photography took place from June 2021 to November 2021 in the
Agua Dulce desert in northern
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
.
The production received an estimated $8,364,000 worth of tax credits to shoot in the state of California. The film was shot on a budget of $68 million after tax incentives.
It was the first to employ trainees (in this case, six) from Universal Filmed Entertainment Group's California Below-the-Line Traineeship for individuals seeking careers behind the camera. ''Nope'' was shot by cinematographer
Hoyte van Hoytema
Hoyte van Hoytema (; born 4 October 1971) is a Swiss-born Dutch-Swedish cinematographer who studied at the National Film School in Łódź. His work includes '' Let the Right One In'' (2008), ''The Fighter'' (2010), ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' ...
using
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
film, including
65mm film
70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...
in
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
, making it the first horror film in history to be shot in this format. Two cameras were used for the nighttime scenes—one for infrared light with narrow bandwidth, and another that captured 70mm film. The overlaid images from these two were then added to the information captured from the film camera, creating the needed footage. On July 22, 2021, Peele revealed the film's title and shared its first promotional release poster, and further castings were confirmed. Peele chose ''Nope'' as the title because he wanted to acknowledge movie audiences and their expected reactions to the film. He said he had considered calling the film ''Little Green Men'' to reference a theme in the film of humanity's "
monetization of spectacle". Filming also took place at the
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
location of
Fry's Electronics
Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. While operating, it was headquartered in San Jose, California in Silicon Valley. Fry's retailed software, consumer electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, tools, toys, accessories, ma ...
, which had closed along with all remaining Fry's locations several weeks before filming. The store was recreated in its operating state for filming. Fry's co-founder Randy Fry and his wife, reporter Vicki Liviakis, were present during filming at the Burbank store; they also had a cameo appearance at the Star Lasso Experience scene, which they filmed in two days.
The 1972 Western film ''
Buck and the Preacher
''Buck and the Preacher'' is a 1972 American Western film released by Columbia Pictures, written by Ernest Kinoy and directed by Sidney Poitier. Poitier also stars in the film alongside Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee.
This is the first film Sid ...
'', starring
Sidney Poitier, is featured throughout the film; Peele said it was "the first film that I know of that had Black cowboys represented in it. The myth that cowboys were just white guys running around, it's just not true, but we don't know that because of Hollywood and the romanticized view of a very brutalized era. The film, it shares a spirit."
For her introductory scene, which also opens the film's first trailer, Palmer shot 14 takes of Emerald's monologue about her and OJ's family's history, which initially was not in the script prior to principal photography. Peele described each take as "...very wildly different, uncuttably so. But just a tour de force, one of these things where you see somebody like, 'I'm going to make this choice this time and go for it.' There's improv in there."
Creature design
CalTech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
professor
John O. Dabiri collaborated with Peele and his team on the design of the Jean Jacket creature's UFO form,
and in particular its final true "biblical angel" form, which was inspired by those of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' and
sea creatures such as
jellyfish
Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...
,
octopuses
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
and
squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
, to imagine a hypothetical undiscovered previously extinct sky predator, realistically imagining "how could something like hide in the clouds", with its ability to "generate electric field" taken from
electric eels and
ghost knifefish
The ghost knifefishes are a family, Apteronotidae, of ray-finned fishes in the order Gymnotiformes. These fish are native to Panama and South America. They inhabit a wide range of freshwater habitats, but more than half the species in the family ...
, allowing for electric propulsion ("Jean Jacket's fast flying without wings/sails").
Guillaume Rocheron of
Moving Picture Company
The Moving Picture Company (MPC) is a multinational company providing visual effects, CGI, animation, motion design and other services for the film, TV, brand experience and advertising industries.
Their artists have produced Academy Award W ...
(MPC) also worked with Dabiri and Peele on the visual effects shots featuring Jean Jacket, utilizing both CGI and
practical effect
A practical effect is a special effect produced physically, without computer-generated imagery or other post-production techniques. In some contexts, "special effect" is used as a synonym of "practical effect", in contrast to "visual effects" ...
s, the latter particularly involving the use of a helicopter to swirl the dust and dirt on the ground the way the creature does when consuming its victims in the film. The film held its first
test screening
A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or ...
s just 12 weeks before its July 22 release, with the special effects still being worked on.
Costumes
Costume designer Alex Bovaird employed a "method approach" to create the characters' wardrobes, using 1990s
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
s, indie rock bands, and the 1985 film ''
The Goonies
''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astor ...
'' as inspiration. To match the film's Californian setting, Bovaird, Peele and their teams decided to create a contrast between "super neon colors against the desert backdrop," and make the film's main characters "look like action heroes, but cool ones." For OJ and Emerald's outfits, Bovaird went against the clichés of how horse ranchers would dress and gave them casual clothes, an example being OJ's orange ''
The Scorpion King
''The Scorpion King'' is a 2002 American sword and sorcery action adventure film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov and Michael Clarke Duncan. It is both a prequel and spin-off of ''The ...
'' crew hoodie, along with portraying Emerald as "tomboy-like" by having her wear clothing that she and OJ may have "left at the ranch." Bovaird saw the character of Angel Torres as "a bit of a cynical, angry guy" and some sort of "Latin-
emo
Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
," but still "perky" due to his being a
comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
character, so he dressed him with a dark-colored palette that gets lighter as the film progresses, using band tees,
cut-offs
Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...
and
Vans
Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...
. Ricky "Jupe" Park's red
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
suit that he wears in the Star Lasso Experience scene almost did not make the cut, for Bovaird was unsure if Peele wanted to go "bold". For the costume of Gordy, Bovaird and his team dressed human actor
Terry Notary
Terry Notary (born August 14, 1968) is an American actor, stunt co-ordinator/double and movement coach. Notary mainly portrays creatures and animals for the film and television industry, and is known for his motion capture performances in films ...
in a cardigan sweatshirt in the vein of the one Andy (
Kerri Green
Kerri Lee Green (born ) is an American actress, best known for her roles in ''The Goonies'' (1985), ''Summer Rental'' (1985), and '' Lucas'' (1986). She also co-wrote and directed the film ''Bellyfruit'' (1999).
Early life
Green grew up in Wo ...
) wore in ''The Goonies'', with yellow and black stripes. Notary's actions were then transferred to the CGI chimpanzee created in post-production.
Sound design
Sound designer Johnnie Burn said in an interview with ''IndieWire'', "Jordan Peele is a director who really knows how to write for sound." He continued, "The early conversations were along the lines of 'We want to be super realistic.'...And for that, we were kind of resisting the urge to hear anything from the monster too early on, because we wanted it to be credible that this was a predator—and how could something so large be getting away with this if it was making a big noise? ... One of the main sounds we used was silence." Burn represented Jean Jacket's presence in the environment by stripping back layers, such as dialogue, wind, and the chirping of crickets. He additionally engineered wind soundscapes containing faint, obscured sounds, such as screams, to suggest Jean Jacket's movement through the air.
The soundtrack was mixed in
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, allowing sounds to be interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horizontal, nor verti ...
.
Music
The film's score was composed by
Michael Abels
Michael Abels (born October 8, 1962) is an American composer best known for his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films ''Get Out'' and '' Us'', for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice n ...
, who had previously worked with Peele on ''
Get Out
''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Land ...
'' (2017) and ''
Us'' (2019). Abels described his score as having to meet the "threat level" described by Peele in the script and the ideas imposed by the film's quote "What's a bad miracle?"
He added, "The music needs to have both those senses together. Both a little bit of a sense of awe like we would have looking at the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
, but then also the urge to run far away from the Grand Canyon because falling in would not be good. That's the dichotomy that's present in the film
..you hear a sense of a little bit of awe and magic, and then there's sheer terror. But then there's also a sense of a real epic adventure towards the end and giant music that accompanies a giant, historic adventure."
Working with the film's sound designer Johnnie Burn, Abels felt that the use of silence played an important role in scoring the film, saying, "The tension between the negative space and the music is actually part of the music. Leaving room for the sound design, even when there's a cue playing, was an important part of the way I approached it. A lot of times in the scariest parts, especially in the earlier parts of this film, you're listening to what you hope you're not going to hear or what you thought you might have heard. The stillness allows you to freak out in that way."
The soundtrack album was released by
Back Lot Music
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
on July 22, 2022, the same day as the film. The score album also features a
screwed version of
Corey Hart's "
Sunglasses at Night." Additionally, the film features the songs "
Walk On By" by
Dionne Warwick
Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...
, "This Is the Lost Generation" by
the Lost Generation, and "
Exuma, the Obeah Man
''Exuma'' is the self-titled debut studio album by Bahamian folk musician Exuma. It was originally released in May 1970 on the Mercury label.
Background
In the early 1960s, Exuma (born Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey) had moved to Greenwich V ...
" by
Exuma
Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays.
The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma, by a small bridge. The capital ...
.
Marketing
The release of a teaser poster in July 2021 and first-look images in February 2022 were followed by a trailer on February 13, 2022. The trailer, which featured the 1962
Regal Theater recording of
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
's "
Fingertips
"Fingertips" is a 1963 hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's then Tamla label.
Overview
Written and composed by Wonder's mentors, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a jazz instrumental recorde ...
",
was praised by critics for simultaneously creating suspense and keeping the storyline under wraps; some reviewers began to speculate the film would be about
extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...
.
Jeremy Mathai of ''
/Film
''/Film'', also spelled ''Slashfilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005.
Podcasts
Six podcasts have run on the site. ''The /Filmcast'', hosted by David Chen, De ...
'' said it "immediately lit the internet on fire and sent fans scurrying for answers as to whether the main antagonist of the film could ''really'' be alien invaders from outer space or if Peele has yet another trick up his sleeve."
Jordan Hoffman from ''
Vanity Fair'' said he enjoyed the song choice and an included static shot with scrolling text, which he compared to a similar shot in the trailer for
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
's ''
The Shining''.
''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
''s Charles Pulliam-Moore called it "one of the rare modern movies with this much hype around it to make it this close to its release date without the public knowing basically anything about it." The trailer was also broadcast during
Super Bowl LVI, and it earned 86 million views across social media websites during the 24 hours after it aired.
A second poster showing a floating horse was released on March 1, 2022. ''
Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...
''s John Squires said it was "entirely possible that ''Nope'' isn't at all the movie it thus far appears to be, with the marketing throwing us off the scent." Lex Briscuso from ''/Film'' said that "despite the fact that the new visual doesn't give us very many fresh clues, I'm just happy to see new content continue to pop up out of the blue". On April 16, the
NBA Playoffs cross-promoted the film with a clip starring
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player
Stephen Curry. Larry Fitzmaurice of ''
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
'' called it "terrifyingly funny". On April 27, additional footage was shown to around 3,000 exhibition insiders at
CinemaCon
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the worldwide major theater chains' operators are members, as are hundreds of independent theater oper ...
; Peele asked attendees to be discreet and not reveal any detail about the story. This footage, depicting several characters saying a variation of the word "nope", was later aired as a 30-second television spot during the
NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...
, confirming the existence of UFOs in the film. Jeremy Methai of ''/Film'' called it "thrilling" and noted similarities to the
filmography of Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg is an American director, writer, and producer. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era, as well as one of the most popular directors and producers in film history. He is also one of the co-founders o ...
while expressing his belief that "there's something much more going on underneath beyond the extremely easy answer of extraterrestrials terrorizing our helpless protagonists."
Four character posters were released on June 7, 2022, with a featurette released the next day. The final trailer was released on June 9, 2022, featuring
the Undisputed Truth
The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act, assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield as a means for being able to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with ...
's 1971 rendition of
the Temptations
The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...
' "
Ball of Confusion
"Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" is a 1970 hit single for The Temptations. It was released on the Gordy (Motown) label, and written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.
The song was used to anchor The Temptations' 1970 ' ...
". Reviewers noted its lighter tone and said it did a better job at explaining the premise. Justin Carter of ''
Gizmodo
''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...
'' said it was reasonable to believe the trailer shared too much information, inadvertently robbing audiences from any potential mystery in the story.
IMAX and
Dolby
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and HDR imaging. Dolby licenses its technologies to ...
posters were released by the end of June 2022. On July 1, an interactive website for Jupiter's Claim, the fictional theme park Yeun's character owns in the film, was published; in addition to providing hints of the plot, it held weekly drawings with in-world prizes. Valerie Ettenhofer of ''/Film'' compared a poster on the website for a fictional film titled ''Kid Sheriff'' to the poster for the 2003 comedy film ''
Holes
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
''. She described the website as "wonderfully interactive, sort of like an old
Flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid ...
game site, but it also gives some insight into what ''Nope'' might be about." A real-world version of Jupiter's Claim was added permanently as a part of
Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusemen ...
's
Studio Tour on July 22, making it the first Studio Tour attraction to open the same day the movie it replicates opens in theaters, the other addition to the attraction is the atmosphere such as the lights and tube men flicker off while the sound of the alien be heard and the actors starting to panic then begin to look up. On July 24, 2022, Peele released the intro to ''Gordy's Home'', the fictional sitcom depicted in the film, on his Twitter account.
Release
''Nope'' premiered at the
TCL Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre (branded as TCL Chinese Theatre for naming rights reasons) is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.
The original Chinese T ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on July 18, 2022. It was released in theaters in the United States on July 22, 2022, by Universal Pictures, a date first revealed in November 2020. The
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...
hosted an outdoor screening of the film at Sunset Ranch Hollywood on July 25, 2022.
It screened at the
Cinesphere
Cinesphere is the world's first permanent IMAX movie theatre, located on the grounds of Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed in 1971, it is the largest IMAX theatre in Ontario. The theatre has both IMAX 70mm and IMAX with Laser ...
in IMAX on September 12, 2022, during the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
as a special presentation in the main film slate with a pre-film Q&A session with Jordan Peele and Hoyte van Hoytema, despite being released to the public prior to the festival. The film was released to
VOD on August 26, 2022. It was released on
4K UHD,
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
, and
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on October 25, 2022. It was released to streaming on
Peacock on November 18, 2022, as part of an 18 month deal where it will stream on Peacock for four months, before moving to
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...
for the next ten months, before moving back to Peacock for the final four.
Reception
Box office
''Nope'' grossed $123.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $48.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $171.4 million.
In the United States and Canada, ''Nope'' was projected to gross around $50 million from 3,785 theaters in its opening weekend.
It made $19.5 million on its opening day, including $6.4 million (down 14% from the $7.4 million earned by Peele's 2019 film
''Us'') from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $44.4 million, topping the box office. It also posted the best opening weekend for an original film since ''Us''. While the film came in on the low-end of projections, ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...
'' still deemed it a success, noting its opening was higher than ''
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a ...
'' ($41 million), another R-rated original film released in July 2019, as well as its Friday-to-Saturday gross not steeply declining, indicating possible legs at the box office. ''Deadline'' also reported that despite failing to meet Universal's $50 million opening threshold for a longer 31-day theatrical window before going to
premium video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
, Universal would still honor the longer window for the film.
The film dropped 58% in its sophomore weekend to $18.6 million, finishing second behind newcomer ''
DC League of Super-Pets
''DC League of Super-Pets'' is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. ...
''. It finished third and fifth the following two weekends, with $8.5 million and $5.3 million, respectively. On August 9, 2022, during its third week, the film crossed the $100 million milestone in the United States and Canada, making it the first R-rated film to pass the milestone since ''
Bad Boys for Life
''Bad Boys for Life'' is a 2020 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adil & Bilall. It is the sequel to ''Bad Boys II'' (2003) and the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' franchise. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise thei ...
'' in January 2020. It also surpassed Universal's other horror film ''
Halloween Kills
''Halloween Kills'' is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green, Danny McBride and Scott Teems. It is the sequel to 2018's ''Halloween'' and the twelfth installment in the'' Halloween'' franchise. The ...
'' ($92 million in the United States and Canada) to become the highest grossing R-rated film in the United States and Canada during the pandemic.
Critical response
![Jordan Peele (14532261920) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Jordan_Peele_%2814532261920%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, the same score as ''Us'', while
PostTrak
PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios.
History
The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...
reported 79% of filmgoers gave it a positive score.
A. O. Scott of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' praised the film's "impeccably managed suspense, sharp jokes and a beguiling, unnerving atmosphere of all-around weirdness", and noted that, "While this movie can fairly be described as Spielbergian, it turns on an emphatic and explicit debunking of Spielberg's most characteristic visual trope: the awe-struck upward gaze."
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film a score of four out of four stars, calling it "an exhilarating piece of cinema filled with memorable characters", and "a classic example of a bold and original film that pays homage to a seemingly endless stream of great movies and yet is more than the sum of its parts." Odie Henderson, writing for ''
RogerEbert.com'', gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, commending the film's sound mixing and calling it "definitely Peele's creepiest movie," and writing that Peele himself "remains a master of misdirection".
David Sims of ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' wrote that "''Nope'' is tinged with the acidic satire that suffused
eele'sprevious two movies, as Peele examines why the easiest way to process horror these days is to turn it into breathtaking entertainment." Likewise, Michael Shindler of ''
The American Spectator
''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...
'' singled out Holst as a "polite caricature" of
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...
, highlighting how the latter contrasts favorably with the film's heroes, and noted that Peele "resists the temptation to warp the plot into a hackneyed morality play," instead playing "the story straight" in the vein of
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
's ''
Starship Troopers''.
Chris Evangelista of ''
/Film
''/Film'', also spelled ''Slashfilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005.
Podcasts
Six podcasts have run on the site. ''The /Filmcast'', hosted by David Chen, De ...
'' wrote that "''Nope'' may not be Jordan Peele's best movie to date, but it is his most enjoyable. A true summer movie spectacle meant to be writ large across the screen, giving us thrills, chills, laughs, and that most precious of things: movie magic." David Ehrlich of ''
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
'' praised the film, saying "It doesn't hurt that Peele's latest boasts some of the most inspired [] design since H. R. Giger left his mark on the genre, or that Kaluuya's eyes remain some of Hollywood's most special effects, as ''Nope'' gets almost as much mileage from their weariness as ''Get Out'' squeezed from their clarity. It's through them that ''Nope'' searches for a new way of seeing, returns the Haywoods to their rightful place in film history, and creates the rare Hollywood spectacle that doesn't leave us looking for more." ''
Screen Rant
''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...
''s Ben Kendrick called it "a love letter to filmmaking" and called Brandon Perea's portrayal of Angel Torres a "stand-out" among the supporting cast, while praising Kaluuya and Palmer's performances.
Richard Lawson of ''Vanity Fair'' was mixed about the film, saying "As ''Nope'' swerves and reels, it often seems distracted by itself, unable to hold its focus on any one thing long enough for deeper meaning, or feeling, to coalesce." Alonso Duralde of ''
TheWrap
''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman
Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...
'' wrote "This ultimately feels like four very promising movies mashed together, with spectacular highlights bumping into each other in a way that's ultimately lacking, even as they all demonstrate the prowess and bravado of the filmmaker."
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the film two out of five stars, writing, "There is something clotted and heavy about this film, with sadly not enough of the humour for which Peele justly became celebrated in his double-act days with
Keegan-Michael Key
Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He co-created and co-starred alongside Jordan Peele in Comedy Central's sketch series ''Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) and co-starred in USA Netw ...
."
Accolades
Future
In July 2022, Perea revealed that he had convinced Peele and the Universal executives to change his character's fate in the film's climax from being killed primarily out of interest in a potential
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
, saying: "There's no way the story's over in my head. There's no way. For how heroic everything kind of seemed at the end, I'm like there's no way they leave the heroes like this. This is just the start of something new."
In an interview with ''
Thrillist
Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis Ne ...
'', Jean Jacket designer
John O. Dabiri suggested that the creature survived its apparent death at the film's conclusion, saying "There's a species of jellyfish that's called the
immortal jellyfish
''Turritopsis dohrnii'', also known as the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biological immortality, biologically immortal jellyfish found worldwide in temperate to tropic waters. It is one of the few known cases of animals capable of ...
..I'm not a movie maker. But if it was me, I would say there would be some interesting opportunity to ask whether we've seen the last of Jean Jacket."
In an interview with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Peele addressed a character that was cut from the film, listed on
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
as Nobody, saying "The story of that character has yet to be told, I can tell you that. Which is another frustrating way of saying, I’m glad people are paying attention. I do think they will get more answers on some of these things in the future. We’re not over telling all of these stories".
Notes
References
External links
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{{Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
2022 films
2022 science fiction horror films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2020s monster movies
2020s Western (genre) horror films
American monster movies
American science fiction horror films
American Western (genre) horror films
American Western (genre) science fiction films
Neo-Western films
Films about cryptids
Films about extraterrestrial life
Films about filmmaking
Films about horses
Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
Films set in 1998
Films set in 2021
Films set in farms
Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles
Films set in Los Angeles County, California
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films scored by Michael Abels
Films directed by Jordan Peele
Films produced by Jordan Peele
Films with screenplays by Jordan Peele
IMAX films
Universal Pictures films
Alien abduction films