Jordan Peele's Us is about to tear up the box office — and accomplish a feat that has become depressingly rare.
The latest film from the director of Get Out is set to be one of the few movies not based on anything to top the box office since 2017, observes IndieWire's David Ehrlich. As he points out, the only films in the past two years that were original stories and beat the competition were Get Out, Dunkirk, Coco, The Hitman's Bodyguard, Happy Death Day, A Quiet Place, and Night School.
In that time, just about everything else has been a sequel, a reboot, an adaptation, or a film set in a cinematic universe, plus movies based on real people (although technically, Dunkirk is also based on a real event, so Us would be seventh if this were included). Thus far in 2019, the films that have scored the number one spot include three based on a comic book or manga, three sequels, and one remake.
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At the moment, Us is projected to make about $64 million over the weekend, per The Hollywood Reporter, which would make it the biggest opening ever for an original R-rated horror film. Clearly, the horror genre has played a major role in keeping audacious, original movies alive at the box office, making up half of Ehrlich's list — with two being helmed by Peele himself. Screenwriter C. Robert Cargill observed on Friday that horror is "the last genre you can make $100 million in while discussing smartly the problems that plague both the individual and our society." After the success of Us, expect Peele to show back up on the list many more times in the years to come.
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