Jordan Peele’s Next Film Removed from Universal 2026 Slate

Highly anticipated movies by our favorite filmmakers can’t get here fast enough. We want that next cinematic adventure or decent into hell or whatever. Gimme that dopamine hit, directors! But we’ll always say a movie should only come out when the filmmakers (not the studios) decide it’s ready. As such, sometimes movie release dates move back (just like Mortal Kombat II). That fate has befallen Jordan Peele’s next movie. The Oscar winner’s follow-up to 2022’s Nope, once on Universal’s slate for October 2026, is no longer there. That means it’s getting pushed.

The news, which we saw at Variety, is pretty disappointing. Originally, Peele and Universal had the movie down for a Christmas 2024 release. That obviously never happened. Guild strikes necessitated a move, bumping it to what would have been next Halloween. Sadly, it appears that too won’t be happening. No word yet on where the movie will end up.

With only three feature films under his belt as writer and director, Peele has already become an emerging voice to watch in the horror/sci-fi space. Breaking on to the scene with 2017’s monster hit Get Out, Peele won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. This followed fairly quickly with 2019’s Us, in many ways a much bigger swing with its story and scope. To date, Peele’s most recent movie is 2022’s Nope, a rather unsettling alien creature feature about messing with nature. All of his movies are divisive in the best ways. We really can’t wait for movie number four.

Since Get Out, Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions have produced a number projects, usually in the horror or fantasy space. For television, these have included The Twilight Zone reboot (which Peele hosted), Lovecraft Country, and Hunters. Films have included Candyman, Wendell & Wild, and Monkey Man.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.