Jordan Peele’s Us on track to out-perform Get Out on its opening weekend

Fans of horror, comedy, politics and just damn fine cinema are all waiting in eager anticipation of Us, Jordan Peele’s new social horror film, which hits cinemas this weekend. A little over two years since Peele’s groundbreaking, Oscar-winning directorial debut Get Out earned over $255 million at the box office, box office predictors are expecting a similarly high return for Us, which is currently rated at 99% fresh right now on Rotten Tomatoes.

As the utterly terrifying trailer depicts, Us is about a Black family, whose serene beach holiday disintegrates into horrific, unnerving chaos after their home is invaded by their own doppelgängers. The film stars Lupita Nyong’o as the family matriarch, and the Oscar winner’s dual performance as a protective mother and terrifying malevolent force is being heralded as transformative.

Universal will be expecting the positive reviews, word of mouth, prestige casting and high expectations of Peele to translate into box office returns, and the studio has been canny in their release strategy. Just as Get Out screened at Sundance and let word of mouth build before released, Us had its premiere at SXSW two weeks ago, allowing good reviews and excitement to build. Get Out enjoyed an opening weekend box officed of $33.3million and it defied expectations to enjoy a steady audience for weeks, instead of experiencing the usual drop-off after opening weekend. Tracking predicts that Us will have an even bigger opening weekend of $45million, showing that Peele has already become a must-see director.

Will it sustain the great reviews and audience numbers? Stay tuned…