In a win for big-budget original filmmaking, writer-director Jordan Peele’s latest thriller, Nope, debuted with $44 million in its opening weekend, putting it ahead of titles such as Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ($41 million) and the recent Elvis ($31 million). Nope did, however, fall short of the astonishing $71 million debut posted by Peele’s previous film, Us, and of the $50 million that it was projected to make going into its first weekend. But it’s pacing ahead of Peele's debut film, Get Out, which made $33 million in its first weekend.
Get Out went on to become a critical and commercial smash, amassing over $255 million worldwide in its theatrical run. It went on to win Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Us finished its theatrical run with over $255 million as well, on the back of some solid reviews. But while critical reaction for Nope has been mostly positive — reviewers have praised Peele’s thematic and visual ambition — fan reaction paints a worrying picture for the film’s future. Nope managed a B CinemaScore from opening day audiences, which is less in line with high-concept hits and more in line with run-off-the-mill horror pictures.
Peele’s working with his biggest budget here, by far. Nope cost a reported $68 million to produce (thanks partially to its lavish IMAX photography, and star Daniel Kaluuya’s loftier payday). By comparison, Us was produced for a reported $20 million, while Get Out was made on a reported $4.5 million budget.
After two weeks at the top, Disney’s Thor: Love and Thunder fell to number two this weekend. The superhero sequel, which has earned some of the most divisive reviews of any Marvel Cinematic Universe film, made $22.1 million in its third weekend, taking its running domestic total to over $276 million. Globally, the fourth Thor movie is on the cusp of passing the $600 million mark.
Minions: The Rise of Gru took the third spot, adding $17.7 million to its domestic tally after four weeks of release. The animated sequel/prequel’s running domestic tally now stands at a phenomenal $297 million, and over $640 million worldwide. The Rise of Gru is the biggest animated film since 2019’s Frozen II.
The fourth spot went to the book adaptation Where the Crawdads Sing, which made $10.3 million in its second weekend, taking its running domestic total to over $38 million. Crawdads exceeded expectations in its debut weekend, collecting $17 million. The top five was rounded out by Paramount’s summer sensation Top Gun: Maverick, which fell short of Crawdads by just $300,000. The film made another $10 million this weekend — its ninth — to take its running domestic total to $635 million. It remains to be seen if Maverick has enough gas left in its engines to pass Jurassic World ($653 million) Titanic ($659 million) for the seventh spot on the all-time domestic box office list.
Watch an interview with Maverick director Joseph Kosinski here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.