Dear Gossips,
It was announced yesterday that there will be two Jordan Peele movies coming in 2024. The first is from his production company, Monkeypaw Productions, and the second he will direct himself, scheduled to be released on Christmas Day, 2024. And…because this is Jordan Peele, that’s all we know.
But that date is interesting. A Christmas Day release means big box office expectations or award season expectations, or both. And Jordan Peele can deliver on both. All three of his previous directorial efforts – Get Out, Us, and Nope – were commercial successes; Get Out was nominated for four Oscars, with Jordan winning Best Original Screenplay. Us and Nope were award season hopefuls and many consider it a snub that neither one was considered.
As noted, all that’s been revealed so far is that the new movie is coming out on December 25 because that’s how it always works with a Jordan Peele project. Nobody ever knows what it’s about, and even when it comes out, part of the fun is the debate over what the film is actually about. This is why Jordan Peele’s films have become events unto themselves. He’s one of a small handful of directors who can attract an audience on his own name – we don’t need to know the stars, we don’t need to know who’s been cast, all we need to know is that the story comes from Jordan, and we’re in.
Everybody else probably wants in too. So many actors must be calling their agents right now telling them to set up a meeting, asking how they can somehow get their hands on the script. Unless of course Jordan has already decided who he wants in his movie. With a Christmas 2024 release, pre-production should be starting soon, if not already underway.
Daniel Kaluuya has the distinction of being in two of Jordan’s three films. Will Jordan go back to Daniel or will there be entirely new names this time? Is there a wish list? Because I would love to see Brian Tyree Henry, fresh off his first Oscar nomination, in a Jordan Peele production. Or Danielle Deadwyler, who should have been nominated, at the center of a Jordan Peele story.
But again, where Jordan Peele is concerned, the cast isn’t necessarily the draw. It’s Jordan himself, and the kind of original storytelling that he’s brought to the screen. This Christmas Day confidence isn’t based on the actors, it’s entirely based on how much faith Universal is putting in the director. And this is a lot of faith because the new Jordan Peele feature is coming out in 2024 just five days after Avatar 3 and we all know at this point what James Cameron can do with the box office (if not the culture – seriously, Avatar: The Way of Water may have made a lot of money but nobody ever talks about it!). Universal is obviously banking on the strong possibility that there will still be room in the market for Jordan Peele.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
