Nope Star Daniel Kaluuya Compares Film to Close Encounters

Jordan Peele’s latest film, Nope, lands in theaters on July 22nd and even with the teasers and trailers that have been released for the film, there’s still a lot unknown about it even with the story clearly being about visitors from space. But there is more to the film than just that, with the experience appearing to delve into not just their existence, but the reaction of the people impacted with this alien threat. Now, Nope star Daniel Kaluuya goes a bit further and compares the film to another, classic film that deals with alien contact: Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Speaking with Peele in a piece for Essence, the pair talked about how they wanted Nope to “transcend the horror genre” to which Kaluuya compared the film to Close Encounters, calling it more of a horror-adventure.

“Nope—I feel like it’s almost horror-adventure. I hope you don’t mind me saying, like Close Encounters,” Kaluuya said. “I remember when I watched that for the first time, probably about four years ago, and I was like, Wow, this has stood the test of time. This is an incredible film now, especially with all the technology and all the kinds of stuff that he’s managed to make. It’s like epic horror, essentially. I know another director, he said, “I’m not a minimalist, I’m a maximalist.” And I love when Black people just go for it—because fuck it. Why not? We’re in the game. Fuck it. I feel like this is that. For me, it’s about, What genre can you reinvent? And what genre can you expand? I feel like you have expanded horror already, and now you’re doing it again—giving it scale and epicness. I love pushing the envelope. We’re in a creative industry, but people will sometimes handle this like they’re working at the bank. It’s nuts to me. Let’s go—let’s create. I don’t like hearing, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen that before.’ That’s the point. That’s why people watch films. So, it was amazing to be in the center of something that I used to love watching as a kid as well.

Nope reunites Peele with Oscar winner Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld) and Brandon Perea (The OA, American Insurrection), is written and directed by Jordan Peele and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us, Candyman) and Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw Productions. The film will be released by Universal Pictures worldwide.  

Nope lands in theaters on July 22nd.