Interestingly, there is a very thin line separating the best horror outing of the last decade from extending into the realm of comedy. While most mainstream horror flicks lose into obscurity following their cliche and uninspiring stories, Jordan Peele’s Best Picture-nominated horror was a big exception, which breathed new life into the genre.
Released in 2017, Get Out grossed $255M throughout its box office run, while attaining a near-perfect score at the Tomatometer and garnering multiple Oscar wins under its belt. And even though the film succeeded in scaring audiences to the core, Peele admitted that the horror outing was not too far from being a comedy.
Jordan Peele Could’ve Gone the Comedic Route for Get Out
While the statement might hit some as strange at first glance, per Jordan Peele, there isn’t much difference between horror and comedy, with one major difference being the use of music. Following the slight barrier between the two genres, the acclaimed director revealed that by the end of the production, he had the choice to make Get Out a comedy instead of a horror. Speaking with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, he said,
“I think The comedy part of my career is still going. I think its still active. And part of that, you know, I talked about it as sort of like the difference between comedy and horror is the music, and it really does- it does feel like that… And I could’ve done it, I was at the finish line, I could’ve gone either way and it would’ve been a very different film.”
Thankfully, the horror auteur stood with the horror aspect, which became a huge success upon its release, and is often considered the best to grace the genre in the 21st century.
Get Out Is a Sequel to 1999’s Comedy Classic Confirms Jordan Peele
Following Jordan Peele’s experience in the field of comedy before stepping his footing in the horror landscape, it’s not unreasonable to see why the horror classic has many parallels with one comedic classic. Both Get Out and the comedic classic, Being John Malkovich, revolve around the idea of body-snatching and involve a similar type of villain. While these parallels might not be intentional on Peele’s part, being a fan of the comedy, the Nope director expressed his likeness to the theory of Get Out being a sequel to Being John Malkovich. He told Vanity Fair,
“Um, wow. I love this theory, I have heard this theory. It was definitely not lost on me that I was able to get Catherine Keener in her second like weird perspective, living in someone else’s brain movie. We joked about that and I’m a huge fan of the movie Being John Malkovich. I also sat down with [Being John Malkovich director] Spike Jonze a couple months ago, told him this theory myself and he chuckled. So as far as I’m concerned, it’s true.”
Although a version of the film more on par with Being John Malkovich‘s tone does seem interesting, considering Get Out skyrocketed Peele to the top, fans won’t complain.
Get Out is available to stream Peacock.
