Jordan Peele ’s UFO thriller “Nope” topped the North American charts in its first weekend in theaters with an estimated $44 million in ticket sales, Universal Pictures said Sunday. Though it doesn’t come close to the $71 million debut of “Us,” it is still significantly impressive for an original, R-rated film — and the biggest of the pandemic for an original screenplay.
“Nope,” which opened on 3,785 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, is the most expensive film Peele has made to date with a reported $68 million production budget, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. “Us” cost around $20 million to produce, while “Get Out” was made for only $4.5 million. Both films ultimately made over $255 million worldwide.
