Nope Had to Be About Black Joy, Black Horror to Jordan Peele

Thor: Love and Thunder now in theaters, the next big Hollywood tentpole this summer movie season is Jordan Peele’s Nope. The Universal release reunites the Oscar winner with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya in the story of two siblings (Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) who set out to record video evidence of a UFO. While Peele has become a household name as a director because of the horror genre, he recently told Essence magazine that Nope had to be more than just Black horror in order to speak to the times.

It’s so tricky being considered in the vanguard of Black horror, because obviously Black horror is so very real, and it’s hard to do it in a way that’s not re-traumatizing and sad, Peele said. I was going into my third horror film starring Black leads, and somewhere in the process I realized that the movie had to be about Black joy as well, in order to fit what the world needs at this moment. So that is part of why there’s sort of a spectrum of tonality of genre in here, because I wanted to give the horror, but I also wanted to give our characters agency and adventure and hope and joy and fun that they deserve.

Peele pitched Kaluuya on Nope by billing it as a great American UFO horror movie that I haven’t seen, adding, I think one of the things we have with this film is a movie that transcends the horror genre, in a way. The first film clip [Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion] was essentially a Black man on a horse who has been forgotten and erased. Part of this film, to me, is a celebration and a response to that. We can be the leads not only of a horror movie but also action, adventure, comedy, etc.

Kaluuya told Essence that Peele is once again expanding the horror genre with Nope. In this film, Peele is giving the genre scale and epic-ness.

I love pushing the envelope, Kaluuya said. We’re in a creative industry, but people will sometimes handle this like they’re working at the bank. It’s nuts to me. Let’s go — let’s create. I don’t like hearing, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen that before.’ That’s the point. That’s why people watch films. So it was amazing to be in the center of something that I used to love watching as a kid as well. Nope opens in theaters nationwide on July 22.

NBCUniversal’s Below-the-Line Training Program for Underrepresented Talent Kicked Off With NBCUniversal announced Wednesday the launch of its California Below-the-Line Traineeship, which gives on-set experience and mentorship to underrepresented talent behind the camera. The program debuted with six trainees last year on the Southern California set of Jordan Peele’s Nope, which is being produced by Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions.

In line with our efforts to provide more gateways into the industry, we could not be more excited to bring this traineeship to a new generation of below-the-line talent, said Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley. Honing your craft on the set of a Jordan Peele movie is an opportunity that none of the trainees took for granted. We are extremely grateful to Jordan and the entire Monkeypaw team, who share our passion and commitment to investing in diversity and early career development.

The traineeship is a collaboration between the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Hollywood Cinema Production Resources and a number of IATSE locals. The first class of trainees was comprised of five Hollywood CPR students and one member of ARC. Trainees are paid for their work and the time frame varies depending on each production. At our core, Monkeypaw has always sought to highlight underrepresented voices and we have been honored to help share those stories with audiences, said Monkeypaw president Win Rosenfeld. We are privileged to further our mission as the first production to partner with the California Below-the-Line Traineeship. It is crucial not only to Monkeypaw’s growth, but the growth of the film industry that all producers collectively commit to initiatives that bring awareness and opportunities to underserved communities to help careers flourish.