Jordan Peele’s Us Release Date Pushed Back Slightly

Universal Pictures has slightly delayed the release of Jordan Peele’s Us, pushing it back one week. Entering 2019 as one of the year’s most anticipated films, Us is Peele’s first directorial effort since the Oscar-winning smash Get Out, which was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at last year’s Academy Awards. Announcing himself as a compelling and entertaining voice, many cinephiles have been eagerly waiting what he does next. Billed as a “social thriller,” Us looks to be another terrifying and intriguing experience from the mind of Peele.

Viewers got their first look at what Peele has in store over Christmas with the debut of the first trailer. The footage revealed Us sees the main family (led by Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong’o) forced to battle for survival against evil doppelgangers of mysterious origin. Many were impressed by the teaser and left wanting more, but unfortunately, they’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to watch the final film.

Related: Watch The Us Trailer

According to The Wrap, Us has been moved back to March 22, 2018 – one week after its original release date of March 15. Earlier today, it was announced Us will have its world premiere at the SXSW Festival. In its new window, Us will be going up against Five Feet Apart and Where’d You Go, Bernadette? at the box office.

While this development will surely disappoint Peele’s fans (especially since tickets were already on sale), the move should be beneficial for Us. Most notably, it now has an extra week’s cushion from Captain Marvel, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpole that should perform very well commercially when it opens on March 8. Granted, with a reported $24.6 million production budget, Us does not need to rewrite the record books in order to turn a profit, but Universal understandably would rather not get lost in the hype of a new MCU installment. Many Marvel movies of recent years tend to hold on to the #1 position on the charts for at least two consecutive weekends before they begin to lose steam. This shift simply puts Us in a more favorable position from a financial perspective.

Still, Us is going to be stuck facing some high-profile competition early on in its run. One week after it opens, Disney’s live-action Dumbo remake hits theaters, with DC’s Shazam! following the week after. Us is going to have its work cut out for it, but it should be in strong shape in regards to box office. Not only is the aforementioned budget figure more than manageable for a studio to recoup (possibly in a single weekend), it’ll also appeal to a different demographic than most of the other blockbusters playing. Especially if Us proves to be as much of a critical darling as Get Out, Peele will be batting 2/2 in his directorial career.

More: Screen Rant’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2019

Source: The Wrap

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Chris Agar
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Chris Agar is a news editor for Screen Rant, also writing features and movie reviews for the site as one of Screen Rant’s Rotten Tomatoes approved critics. He is a graduate of Wesley College’s Bachelor of Media Arts and Master of Sport Leadership programs. In 2013, Chris was hired to write weekly box office prediction posts in conjunction with the Screen Rant Underground podcast’s Box Office Battle game and his role expanded over the next few years. In addition to covering the latest news and hottest movie topics daily, Chris has attended numerous media events for Screen Rant, including San Diego Comic-Con, delivering content his readers care about. He credits Star Wars and Toy Story with launching a lifelong fascination with movies that led to his career, and now he has a wide range of cinematic tastes, enjoying the latest Hollywood blockbusters, Oscar contenders, and everything in between. Chris’ favorite film genres include sci-fi/fantasy, crime, action, and drama.

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