After the monster hits that were Get Out and Us both made over $250 million each at the box office, the world has been waiting for Jordan Peele’s latest horror movie. And as with the last two, before they were released, we don’t yet know very much about it. We’ve had a title reveal – Nope – and a few casting updates and that’s pretty much it. Until now.
First impressions of Nope, from both the poster and now the trailer, is that it could be a blend of horror and science-fiction, because whatever is scaring people is coming from…the sky. The poster depicts a strange cloud formation. And the newly-released trailer features many different characters staring at the sky with horror.
The new trailer opens with a very early moving image of a Black jockey riding a horse and Keke Palmer saying; “Did you know that the very first assembly of photographs to create a moving picture was a two-second clip of a Black man on a horse?” The scene then cuts to Palmer standing in front of a green screen speaking to a television camera. Standing behind her is Daniel Kaluuya – who of course was Oscar-nominated for his role in Jordan Peele’s Get Out – with a horse.
Palmer then proudly says; “And that man is my great, great grandfather!” Kaluuya sullenly says; “Great” and Palmer says, in perfect showman’s patter, “There’s another great! Great grandfather! But that’s why, back at the Haywood Ranch, as the only Black-owned horse trainers in Hollywood, we like to say, since the moment pictures could move” – she does a twirl – “we had skin in the game!”
The scene then cuts to Palmer dancing to a record, while Kaluuya is outside with the horses at night. The record scratches and a rumbling sound begins. The words “From Jordan Peele” descend from the sky. Kaluuya sees lights in the sky, and there is a screaming, screeching sound. The horse gets scared and starts running.
The words “This Summer” appear on the screen. Various characters look at the sky, absolutely terrified. Kaluuya says; “What’s a bad miracle? They got a word for that?” We see shots of wind socks collapsing to the ground, as the wind disappears, a collection of what looks like skulls, and someone riding a motorcycle with a futuristic-looking silver helmet completely covering their face.
We see Steven Yeun in a cowboy outfit looking at the sky and even a CCTV camera looking up. There is a quick succession of shots of scary-looking things, including a woman with a skeletal face, a crab and a slimy alien-looking arm reaching out to a child – in a shot reminiscent of Spielberg’s ET. We see a very brief shot of the circular UFO-like cloud, that has a tail that might be made of Christmas lights. Palmer looks and it and says; “Yeah nah nah nah…Run!” And we don’t blame her.
Kaluuya, wearing an orange hoody, is seen riding a horse at high-speed while a dark shadow falls across the earth. A huge dust storm blows up and Palmer is flung into the sky. The huge white letters that say NOPE against a black background appear and the date 7-22-22, which is July 22 to you and me.
While we wait for July, check out our guides to the best horror movies and the best science-fiction movies.