Universal PicturesJordan Peele’s Us, a psychological and gory thriller, is already breaking records within the world of horror movies.
With a whopping $70.3 million at the domestic box office, Us is now the film with the biggest opening weekend for an original horror movie – not including the plethora of reboots and sequels which clutter cinema listings.
You can see why in the trailer below – if you dare:
Some critics of the trailer said it gave too much away – from jump scares to blood-soaked clothes and chilling screams – but people have still flocked to theatres to see Peele’s newest horror.
Its massive opening weekend has not been money badly spent for punters, it seems, if the glowing reviews are to be believed.
Us earned an impressive $7.4 million from Thursday sneak peeks, and the terrifying flick has now shattered horror movie records altogether.
Following last year’s remakes of It and the Halloween sequel, Us is now the third best horror opening of all time and it only cost $20 million for Peele to make, which is small-fry in Hollywood horror terms.
The narrative sees the Wilson family attacked by brutally murderous doppelgangers, the origins of whom remain unclear until the inevitable Peele twist.
It’s the promise of the underlying commentary which has played at least a part in getting bums on cinema seats.
There’s also, of course, the usual social commentary shrouded in scary movie tropes, starring the inimitable Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke.
Peele himself has said the film is about the fear of the Other and the fact we, as humans, are our own worst enemies.
The award-winning director told The Wall Street Journal he hopes the film will encourage all of us to examine how we ourselves have contributed to these ‘dark times’.
This is expected of Peele now, and he’s delivered according to the first reviews, after Get Out left audience members questioning their own social biases and the potentially gruesome consequences.
His first film went on to gross $33.4 million during its first weekend and made $176 million total in North America.
You can watch the trailer of the discomforting film below:
The revolutionary film won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2017, making Peele the first African-American to win the esteemed honor.
While he’s been working with other filmmakers on exciting new projects – such as The Twilight Zone – in the years since, Us marks his first solo project since Get Out.
You can watch the trailer for his take on The Twilight Zone below:
He’ll also voice the new character Bunny in the highly-anticipated Pixar animated sequel Toy Story 4.
Is there anything this man can’t do?
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.