Although the threat in writer/director Jordan Peele’s upcoming film Nope is being kept hidden, the marketing has already made it clear that whatever it is, it’s coming from the sky. The trailer shows people being lifted into the air, and a poster even shows a horse heading up into the sky. Now Peele has shared a new image from Nope with Empire, and while the image itself isn’t all that interesting it’s just a shot of Get Out‘s Daniel Kaluuya riding a horse and wearing a Scorpion King hoodie – the quote that Peele gave to go with it is interesting.
Peele said he wrote this character with Kaluuya in mind to play
a humble man destined for an epic and otherworldly confrontation. Daniel’s craft is on a different level, but it’s his warmth that grounds audiences even during points of absolute madness. You may be watching a nightmare, but when he’s on screen, at least you’ve got your brother with you, and that’s all you need.”
So an otherworldly threat that pulls people and creatures into the sky. We know it’s aliens, don’t we?
The press release lists the genre of Nope as not just a horror movie, but a “horror epic”. It goes on to build the hype further with this line: “Oscar winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.”
For the story, all they’re telling us is that the film centers on
residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.
Those residents are played by Kaluuya, Keke Palmer (Alice), and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead). Also in the cast are Michael Wincott (The Crow), Brandon Perea (The OA), and Barbie Ferreira (Euphoria).
It has been said that the film will
follow in the same vein as Peele’s past two directorial efforts, terrifying and subversive tales full of socially-conscious thematics in regards to race and society.
Peele produced Nope through his company Monkeypaw Productions, alongside Ian Cooper. Distributor Universal Pictures is building this up as such an event that it will even be playing on IMAX screens. Nope was “shot on KODAK film, including 65mm film in IMAX format.”
The film is scheduled to reach the theatres on July 22. How do you feel about this first of likely many more Nope images featuring Daniel Kaluuya?