Jordan Peele's Secret Film Scores A Big-Name Talent
After the extreme success of Jordan Peele's first two feature films, Get Out and Us (the former of which he won an Oscar for), a potential third film from the writer-director has become a hotly anticipated item. The man's kept busy between films. He serves as a producer on Amazon Studios' Hunters and HBO's Lovecraft County — and he also co-wrote the upcoming horror film, Candyman, directed by Nia DaCosta. Even with such a full plate, IndieWire reported that Universal Pictures officially announced Peele's third directorial feature will be released on July 22, 2022 — not exactly around the corner, but at least it's on the calendar.
Back in 2017, around the success of Get Out, Peele told Business Insider that he had "four other social thrillers" that he planned to release within the decade. He continued, "I've been working on these premises about these different social demons, these innately human monsters that are woven into the fabric of how we think and how we interact, and each one of my movies is going to be about a different one of these social demons."
Very little is currently known about the upcoming film (listed on IMDb as "Untitled Jordan Peele Horror Event"), but a very key detail was just announced, giving fans the first big glimpse into the project: Its star has been found.
Keke Palmer will lead the project
Deadline reported that Keke Palmer, most recently seen in Hustlers, has been cast as the lead in Peele's new film. Palmer's worked with Peele before — in an episode of the writer-director's earlier comedy variety show, Key & Peele – so the two are obviously comfortable together, which likely explains why he offered her such a high-profile role.
Besides her recent supporting role in Hustlers, Palmer has recently been guest-hosting shows like Good Morning America and The Real, and she landed her first solo hosting gig for the 2020 Video Music Awards. She is also set to voice the character of Maya on the upcoming Disney+ series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, a revival of the early-2000s Disney show, The Proud Family.
While Palmer is the only confirmed cast member in the upcoming Jordan Peele project, other names have been floating around as potential co-stars. According to IndieWire, Daniel Kaluuya — breakout star of Get Out — is in negotiations to work with Peele again on this new project. Along with Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, recently seen in Netflix's I'm Thinking of Ending Things, is also reportedly in talks to sign on to the project.
More details here as they become available.