Jordan Peele's Original Title For Nope Is Very Revealing

When the trailer for Jordan Peele's film "Nope" first premiered, the plot was somewhat ambiguous. Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya star as sister and brother Emerald and OJ, who run a horse ranch in the middle of the desert. But other than that, the conflict of the film was unclear. There were visuals of people looking at the sky and flying around, giving viewers the impression that the movie was likely about aliens. However, it wasn't until the premiere of the final trailer for the film that it became crystal clear. You can't get any more obvious than a large flying saucer soaring toward the camera, and throughout the trailer, OJ and Emerald use the term aliens pretty freely as they attempt to catch evidence of the extraterrestrials on film. 

Now that we know what "Nope" is about, we can focus on the finer points of the movie. Take, for instance, the title. It's about as perfect a name as you are likely to get for a horror movie. After all, who wouldn't instinctively say, "Nope," after seeing aliens for the first time? That is what makes it so surprising that Peele originally had another title in the works for his third feature.

If "Get Out" and "Us" are any indication, Jordan Peele has his finger on the pulse of what is truly frightening. Horror is a seamless vehicle to tell stories with social commentary and the filmmaker continues to hit the nail on the head in that regard. Even though "Nope" is an outstanding title for a horror film, Peele almost went in a different direction in the early drafting stages.

"When I was writing the script, it was called 'Little Green Men,'" the filmmaker told Jacqueline Coley of Rotten Tomatoes. Though this may seem like a dead giveaway to the plot of the film, Peele's use of the term has a deeper meaning. He went on to explain, "There was something about our connection with spectacle and money. And our monetization of spectacle. So the little green men that I started talking about was the little green men on the money." 

But even though it fits with the underlying theme of the film, Peele ultimately decided that this first title wasn't right, and opted for the one we now have. And as titles go, Peele could not have come up with one better.