Universal’s “Nope” fell short of pre-release hopes for a $50 million opening, and audience approval has been mild instead of wild, but Jordan Peele’s third No. 1 release is still a victory for original films at the box office.
With a $44 million opening this weekend, “Nope” has earned the best launch for a film with an original screenplay since Peele’s last film, “Us,” earned a $71 million opening in April 2019. That also makes it the best launch for any original film since the pandemic began.
The numbers for “Nope” are truly a half-filled glass outcome. The half-empty perspective would be that “Nope” will not be as profitable as Peele’s past two films.