Jordan Peele may not have been completely joking when he tweeted that “Get Out” is a documentary. The writer-director now says the racial satire is more specifically a historical drama. Entertainment Weekly reported Tuesday, Nov. 14 that the flick will be submitted in the musical/comedy category at the Golden Globes next year.
“I submitted it as a documentary,” Peele says on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Wednesday, Nov. 15. “I didn’t know. It was submitted. … Here’s the thing, the movie is truth. The thing that resonated with people is truth, so for me, it’s more of a historical biopic.”
“It doesn’t fit into a genre,” he added. “It sort of subverts the idea of genre. But it is the kind of movie that Black people can laugh at but white people, not so much.”
Industry speculation putting the movie in the comedy genre gives it a better chance at scoring a nomination, but many felt it lowers its importance.
Peele dove further into that notion while attending a lunch event for “Get Out” at New York’s Lincoln Ristorante.
“The problem is, it’s not a movie that can really be put into a genre box,” he told IndieWire Wednesday. “Originally, I set out to make a horror movie. I ended up showing it to people and hearing, you know, it doesn’t even feel like horror. It’s in this thriller world. So it was a social thriller.”
More On Jordan Peele
‘Black Klansman’ Memoir Adaptation Coming to Big Screen from Jordan Peele and Spike Lee
Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ Inspires UCLA Course On Black Horror Films
‘Get Out’ Director Jordan Peele Inks Deal with Universal, Follow-up Set for 2019 Release
It isn’t clear if “Get Out” was submitted as a comedy without Peele’s input, but he said he thinks “it was just submitted.”
Still, Peele stands by his belief — which many others share — that the movie is not a comedy due to the horrors it depicts.
“What the movie is about is not funny,” he said. “I’ve had many Black people come up to me and say, ‘Man, this is the movie we’ve been talking about for a while and you did it.’ That’s a very powerful thing. For that to be put in a smaller box than it deserves is where the controversy comes from.”
After the success of “Get Out,” which Forbes reported at $150 million gross became the highest grossing debut film based on an original screenplay, Peele said he had opportunities to create more content in a similar vein.
His next project, a Spike Lee collaboration for a movie adaptation of “Black Klansmen,” is shooting now. Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions is also working on a reboot of “The Twilight Zone” and the former sketch comedian is writing his next full-length film.
None of these projects are comedies.
