Jordan Peele broke new ground and redefined horror genre with his directorial debut Get Out, and he did it once again with his new movie Us. This critically acclaimed film had a terrific opening weekend, earning a total of $70 million in North America alone!
There’s a lot to celebrate about the enormous box office success of Peele’s latest creation. It’s an original genre movie filmed on a budget of $20 million, with a predominantly African-American cast. It took it only a few days to earn back its budget, exceeding all expectations and shattering several records on the way.
In addition to having the best opening for a live-action original film since Avatar in 2011, Us also delivered the largest debut for an original horror film, and third-largest in general, right behind the It remake from 2017, and last year’s Halloween sequel.
Jim Orr, head of distribution at Universal Pictures, praised Peele’s unique approach to filmmaking that led Us to this incredible box office success.
“Simply put, Jordan Peele is a genius, and we’re thrilled he put his signature touch to the genre. Folks come out of the movie and they have to talk about. It’s really a topic of conversation, how people are interpreting the movie. That’s a great sign for legs,” concluded Orr.
