Get Outhas officially earned fourOscar nominations. If we were to rewind the clock to just a year ago, it would seem very unlikely that a horror movie that was going to be released in February, coming from the guy best known for his sketch comedy showKey and Peele, would wind up getting nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Yet, here we are, as Jordan Peele’s “social thriller” has defied the odds and done just that.
The hit horror flick has been a favorite throughout awards season, but it was still a big question mark as to whether or not the movie would manage to secure a nomination in the Best Picture category. Especially since the movie was completelyshut out of The Golden Globes. The other movies nominated in the category includeCall Me By Your Name,Darkest Hour,Dunkirk,Lady Bird,Phantom Thread,The Post,The Shape of WaterandThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The Academy has the ability to allow for as many as ten movies to be nominated in the Best Picture category each year, but they went with nine this year. As far as the overall nominations go,The Shape of Waterleads the pack with 13 nominations.
Elsewhere,Get Outwas also nominated in the Best Actor category, withDaniel Kaluuyascoring a nod, marking his first ever Oscar nomination.Jordan Peelealso earned himself a couple of individual nominations for his work, scoring a Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nomination. Jordan Peele is just the third person ever to receive Best Picture, Directing and Writing nominations for his first feature-length movie as a director. The other two to do so were Warren Beatty withHeaven Can Wait(1978) and James L. Brooks forTerms of Endearment(1983). Peele is also only the 5th African-American to get a best director nomination in Oscar history. If he takes home the statue, he’d be the first to do so. Jason Blum, head of Blumhouse Productions, also earns his second nomination as a producer onGet Out, having also been nominated forWhiplashin 2014.
Few genre movies ever managed to win over The Academy in the way thatGet Outhas, withSilence of the Lambsbeing one of the few other examples.Get Outwas a massive critical and financial success, earning $254.6 million worldwide, working from a budget of just $4.5 million. It’s also very rare that a movie released so early in the year manages to hold the attention of the Academy voters in order to actually score some nominations. It just speaks volumes about how impactful this movie really has been. Jordan Peele has come a long way in a very short period of time and we can only hope this will lead to a long, prosperous career for him as a director.
The real question is, canGet Outfurtherdefy the oddsand actually take home the top prize?The Shape of WaterandThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missourimight have something to say about that. Considering thatThree Billboardshas taken home the top prize at the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, it’s starting to seem likely that Martin McDonagh’s latest could be the heavy favorite. We’ll find out when theOscarsare handed out on March 4.
