Few motion pictures released this year have had the cultural impact of Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, Get Out . The film received near unanimous acclaim upon its release in February, and so far has generated a jaw-dropping $160 million at the box office, making it the largest domestic release for Blumhouse Productions.
Now there is news that the May 23 Blu-Ray release of the celebrated film will feature an array of special features and extras sure to excite fans, including a much buzzed about darker alternate ending and a commentary with Peele.
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Peele first teased the presence of an alternate ending during his discussion with Buzzfeed’s Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu for the Another Round podcast. During their chat, Peele spoke about how he crafted several endings of his “social thriller” which each had decidedly more dire resolutions than the one that audiences saw on screens nationwide.
The alternate scenarios (spoiler alert) featured the film’s protagonist Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) being captured by police after escaping from the Armitage family compound following a failed attempt by Dean Armitage (Bradley Whitford) to transplant the brain and consciousness of a blind art dealer Jim Hudson (Stephen Root) into the body of Chris.
Peele stated that during the writing process, he wanted to explore the concept of a post-racial America that many spoke about following the election of former president Barack Obama. Peele wanted to create a horror film that exposed that racism was not a thing of the past by focusing on an interracial relationship. The darker ending, which showed the victimized Chris meeting his demise at the hands of the police, was ultimately scrapped in favor of the crowd-pleasing ending which features Rod Williams (Lil Rel Howery) saving the day in a TSA vehicle. Peele wanted the film to be an uplifting experience for viewers.
“It was very clear that the ending needed to transform into something that gives us a hero, that gives us an escape, that gives us a positive feeling when we leave this movie.”
The director’s commentary by Peele will no doubt go in-depth into myriad influences and Easter eggs that made Get Out resonate with audiences. Peele is already on record stating that horror classics such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) were stylistic predecessors for his film.
The special features don’t end with the alternate ending and commentaries. The Blu-Ray release will also feature deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Also included in the set will be a Q&A with one of the film’s biggest superfans, Chance the Rapper, who was so overwhelmed with appreciation for the flick that he bought all of the tickets for a day’s worth of showings at a theater in Chicago.
DID I NOT TELL YALL #GETOUT WAS INCREDIBLE!! BEST FILM ACROSS ANY GENRE IN AWHILE GO SEE IT TODAY! Cc: @LilRel4 @JordanPeele
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) February 26, 2017
Get Out’s Blu-Ray release is expected to be just as much as a hit as its theatrical release has been. The film broke a number of important records upon its release. Jordan Peele became the first black writer-director to cross the $100 million box office mark. The film is also the highest grossing debut movie for a writer-director with an original script, breaking a record set by the Blair Witch Project in 1999. As if that wasn’t enough, Get Out is on track to become the second highest grossing R-rated horror film of all time, a stunning feat for a film that had a production budget of just $4.5 million. Beyond the box office success of Get Out , there is a growing consensus that the film will be one to watch during the upcoming awards season, which wouldn’t be a shocker given the movie’s great reviews.
With the unexpected acclaim and revenue Get Out has generated, Peele suddenly is the hot new director in town with his next move being closely watched. A.V. Club recently wrote about speculation that Peele may be directing a live-action version of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Anime classic Akira. The adaptation is being developed by Warner Bros. and apparently, Peele is the top pick.
For now, it is anyone’s guess what Peele’s next move will be. However, with the Blu-Ray release for Get Out , he will get to see his passion project enter the homes of millions around the world.
[Featured Image by Rich Fury/AP Images]