Eight Years Before ‘Nope,’ Jordan Peele Shared the Chimp Attack Dream He Had: ‘I Woke Up in Tears’

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have seen “Nope,” in theaters now. 

A November 2014 social media post from Jordan Peele has resurfaced following the release of his third directorial effort, “Nope,” due to the filmmaker revealing he had a disturbing dream about a chimp attack.

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“Dreamt that a baby chimp attacked some people then ran to me and hugged me all scared,” Peele wrote on Twitter nearly eight years ago. “I woke up with tears streaming down my face.”

A chimp attack factors prominently into “Nope,” although it’s a side story that only thematically connects to the main narrative about two siblings (Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya) on a mission to record a UFO above their horse farm. The chimp attack’s loose connection to the UFO story has baffled some viewers and has left many others offering up theories on what it all means.

In the film, Steven Yeun’s character, Ricky, is a former sitcom star who appeared on the show “Gordy’s Home” as a child. Gordy is a chimp who lives with a human family. During the filming of a birthday episode, a balloon accidentally pops and sends Gordy, a real chimp on the set, into a rage. Gordy savagely kills and injures some of the show’s cast, but he shows remorse to the young Ricky before he’s shot in the head. The scene unfolds quite similarly to the dream Peele shared eight years before the film opened in theaters.

“Nope” has earned strong reviews since opening July 22 from Universal Pictures. The movie debuted at the box office to $44 million, below the $70 million that Peele’s “Us” pulled in, but still a robust start for an original R-rated horror movie.

Read Variety’s full analysis of the “Nope” chimp attack scene here. “Nope” is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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