Universal Pictures has announced that they have signed a new deal with Jordan Peele, the director of the hit film Get Out.
The two-year deal will see the release of Jordan's next movie, an untitled social thriller, which he will direct, write, and produce. Before directing, Jordan was well known for co-starring on the Emmy-winning show Key & Peele. The highly successful sketch comedy series has more than 1 billion views online, and has earned 12 Emmy nominations over five seasons.
"Through extraordinary imagination and fearless humor, Jordan has proven himself to be a game-changer who is driven to tell stories that are as commercially entertaining as they are disruptive and provocative," said Universal chairman Donna Langley. "The entire Universal family takes great pride in his incomparable filmmaking debut, and feel fortunate that this studio will be Jordan's home for many years to come."
The actor-turned-director made his debut behind the camera with the thriller Get Out, which earned him a large audience. The film, which was also released by Universal, debuted at No.1 at the box office in February. It has been a major success story for Jordan, grossing more than $194.5 million worldwide, despite the fact the film was created on a small budget.
“I’m incredibly honored to be partnering with Donna, Peter, and all of the brilliant folks at Universal,” Peele said. “I am thrilled to continue the work we started together on ‘Get Out’ — pushing the boundaries of storytelling, not only on the next film, but with all of Monkeypaw’s future projects.”
Jordan started up Monkeypaw Productions in 2012, and the company produced Key & Peele for five seasons. As part of the new deal, Jordan will produce a variety of movies for Universal through his production company, including more projects with Get Out producer Jason Blum. ~ Brenden Zerihun
Great news! Loved him on the show Key & Peele
Key & Peele rocked! Get Out was interesting premise and I think with a larger budget he could have made more of it. It was still decent.