It’s expensive to make a Hollywood feature film. Production costs on average cost around $65 million; add in marketing and the budget gets boosted to an average of $100 million, according to Studio Binder.
It would seem that comedian/filmmaker Jordan Peele’s latest film, “Nope,” had a budget lower than average. It has been reported by The Filmik that the budget was around $40 million, despite Peele having a track record of churning out hits.
The sci-fi horror drama, however, has been called one of the “highly exceptional films of 2022,” The Filmik reported. There has been major buzz around the film that stars Daniel Kaluuya, who also starred in Peele’s breakout film “Get Out.”
In fact, Forbes reported that the film “aims to become 2022’s top-grossing original.”
The science fiction horror centers around caretakers at a California horse ranch who encounter a mysterious force that causes changes in not just human behavior but that of animals as well. In one interview Peele was tight-lipped about the plot, only explaining that “Nope” is about “our addiction to spectacle.”
One of the film’s trailers reveals there is an extraterrestrial sighting by a brother-sister duo, who are trying to reap rewards from the sighting
Peele added, “I started off wanting to make a film that would put an audience in the immersive experience of being in the presence of a UFO.”
According to Showbiz Galore, Kaluuya was paid $850,000 while co-stars Keke Palmer earned $700,000 and Steven Yeun was contracted for $500,000. Other cast members earned: Brandon Perea, $350,000; Michael Wincott, $200,000; Wrenn Schmidt, $200,000; Keith David, $150,000; Donna Mills, $100,000
The total production cost of Peele’s “Nope” was $39.98 million, excluding prints and advertising costs, according to the California Film Commission. Peele wrote, directed, and produced the film. While it may be on the lower end for the typical Hollywood film budget, it marks Peele’s most expensive film.
“Get Out,” which Peele also wrote, directed, and produced, had a budget of $4.5 million and raked in $255 million global worldwide. The 2019 release “Us,” made for $20 million, grossed $255.2 million. In 2021, Peele wrote and produced but did not direct the film “Candyman.” It had a budget reported to be around $25 million and took in $77.39 million worldwide.
“Nope,” which was produced by Monkeypaw Productions by Jordan Peele and Ian Cooper and will be distributed by Universal Pictures, hits theaters on July 22.
