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Box Office: Jordan Peele's 'Nope' Opens to No. 1 With $44 Million

Nope director Jordan Peele attends the World Premiere of Nope at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, US, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci
Nope director Jordan Peele attends the World Premiere of Nope at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, US, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci
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Box Office: Jordan Peele's 'Nope' Opens to No. 1 With $44 Million

Nope director Jordan Peele attends the World Premiere of Nope at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, US, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci
Nope director Jordan Peele attends the World Premiere of Nope at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, US, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci

Audiences responded with a resounding "yep" to Jordan Peele's science-fiction thriller "Nope," which topped the box office with its $44 million debut.

Those ticket sales were slightly behind projections of $50 million and fall in between Peele's first two films, 2017's "Get Out" (which opened to $33 million) and 2019's "Us" (which opened to $71 million). "Nope" may not have cemented a new box office record for Peele, but it marks a strong start for an original, R-rated horror film.

"The opening isn't as big as 'Us,' but it's still extremely impressive," says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, Reuters reported.

It's worth noting that Peele's sophomore feature "Us," a scary story about menacing doppelgangers, enjoyed an especially huge opening weekend because it followed the runaway success of the Oscar-winning "Get Out." After his directorial debut captured the zeitgeist by delivering scares while encouraging audiences to think, audiences were more than a little eager to watch Peele's next mind-bending nightmare. Box office expectations for "Nope," another complex social thriller, were comparatively a little more Earth-bound.

"Nope" cost $68 million, which is significantly more than "Get Out" (with its slender $4.5 million budget) and "Us" (with its $20 million budget). So the movie will require a little more coinage than Peele's past films to turn a profit. "Get Out" and "Us" were wildly successful in theaters, with each collecting $255 million at the global box office.

"Nope" reunites Peele with "Get Out" star Daniel Kaluuya -- and adds Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun to the mix -- in the story of siblings who live on a gulch in California and attempt to uncover a video evidence of a UFO. Critics were fond of "Nope," which holds an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave the film a "B" grade, the same CinemaScore as "Us."

Since "Nope" was the only new movie to open this weekend, several holdover titles rounded out North American box office charts.

Disney's "Thor: Love and Thunder" slipped to second place after two weeks in the No. 1 spot. The Marvel adventure added $22.1 million (a 53% decline) from 4,370 locations, taking the film's domestic tally to $276.2 million. Globally, the fourth "Thor" movie has grossed $598 million and will imminently cross the $600 million mark. It's already out-earned two of its three predecessors, 2011's "Thor" ($335 million) and 2013's "Thor: The Dark World" ($446 million). However, it still has a ways to go to match (or beat) 2017's charmer "Thor: Ragnarok" ($853 million).

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Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Might Have Just Redeemed the Live-Action Adaptation

Mason Thames arrives at the premiere of "How to Train Your Dragon" on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. (Andrew Park/Invision/AP)
Mason Thames arrives at the premiere of "How to Train Your Dragon" on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. (Andrew Park/Invision/AP)
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Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Might Have Just Redeemed the Live-Action Adaptation

Mason Thames arrives at the premiere of "How to Train Your Dragon" on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. (Andrew Park/Invision/AP)
Mason Thames arrives at the premiere of "How to Train Your Dragon" on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. (Andrew Park/Invision/AP)

Ever wanted to soar through the skies on the back of a friendly dragon? The new “How to Train Your Dragon” may be the ticket, from a decidedly safer, though possibly still vertigo-inducing, distance.

This live-action adaption of the underdog adventure story sends the audience cascading through the clouds with the teenage Viking boy Hiccup and his dragon friend Toothless. It’s the kind of immersive sensation and giddy wish fulfillment that might just have you forgetting momentarily to breathe and, maybe more importantly, that you’re still in a movie theater. Credit to veteran cinematographer Bill Pope, no stranger to fantasy worlds, whether it’s “The Matrix” or “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”

“How to Train Your Dragon” doesn’t stray far from the original, from shots to story beats. Gerard Butler once again plays Berk’s Chief Stoick the Vast. The new Hiccup, actor Mason Thames, even sounds a bit like Jay Baruchel. But unlike so many live-action remakes of animated films, it also doesn’t feel superfluous, or, worse, like a poor imitation of its predecessor that trades the magic of animation for photorealism.

Perhaps that’s because filmmaker Dean DeBlois, who made the three animated films, stayed in the director’s chair. Who better to kill their darlings than the one who brought them to the screen in the first place? And, crucially, to know where live-action might actually enhance the fabric of the world created by author Cressida Cowell.

It helps that dragon technology has come a long way since, say, “DragonHeart.” These fire-breathing CG creatures feel disarmingly real. And though it might look like “Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones,” the tone stays light enough for younger filmgoers. There are a few intense sequences, but none that takes it any further than the animated film did 15 years ago.

“How to Train Your Dragon” does start a little slow, however, which is odd because it also begins with a fiery battle between the Vikings and the dragons on the Isle of Berk. There’s a lot of exposition and introduction that needs to happen before you can just give yourself over to the story. In this more multicultural version, the warriors on Berk have been recruited from tribes around the globe to try to defeat the dragons.

Hiccup is a Viking nepo baby. As the chief's son, he sits in a place of privilege, but he’s also a general outcast in this world of ruthless warriors — skinny and weak, he just longs to be part of the action, not sharpening the weapons. Killing dragons is currency in this society, and his crush Astrid (Nico Parker) happens to be one of the most promising up-and-comers. His sole champion is Gobber (a delightful Nick Frost), the blacksmith and dragon slayer teacher, who convinces the chief to give the clever Hiccup a shot.

The film finds its internal engine when Hiccup finds Toothless, the wide-eyed “Night Fury” dragon whom he can’t bring himself to kill. Instead, he decides to study this discovery, who he finds is not nearly as fearsome as everyone assumes. “How to Train Your Dragon” teaches empathy and ingenuity without a sermon.

Thames, a teenager himself, is the perfect embodiment of adolescent awkwardness and boldness. You can have all the cute dragons you want, but the audience would be lost if the human conduit to the relationship isn’t up to the task. Butler seems to be having a good time, resplendent in fur and chest-thumping ideas about ancient duties. And Parker gives Astrid a relatable depth — the best in the bunch who is outshone in an unequal fight.

Kids deserve movies that are made on the biggest possible canvas. “How to Train Your Dragon” is one that's worth the trip to the theater. It might just spark some young imaginations, whether it’s to go back and read the books or dream up their own worlds. And, chances are, no one is going to be yelling “chicken jockey.”