Allison Williams and Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele) are stepping out of their comfort zone for their next project. The two will be teaming up for a new thriller with Williams starring, and Peele directing, called Get Out.
Producers are keeping most of the film’s details under wraps, but we do know that it “centers on a young African American man who visits his white girlfriend’s family estate,” according to Deadline.
Known best for his comedic chops, Get Out will be Peele’s first directing project as he takes on a whole new genre, but he’ll have the help of a marquee horror film studio. Blumhouse Productions — which has produced Paranormal Activity, the Insidious films and, most recently, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit — will produce the project with QC Entertainment.
Meanwhile, Williams is best know for her quirky roles in shows like the HBO dramedy Girls, as well as taking on the role of Peter Pan in NBC’s live-action take on the classic, making this an interesting matchup for both stars.
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Peele explained how this new project actually makes perfect sense. The film does have a satirical premise, Peele says, but will plenty of bite to the horror elements, sounding similar to the Scream franchise. “I’m obsessed with the link between horror and comedy,” Peel explained. “I think they’re very close. They’re both about getting a very physical kind of reaction. It’s about tension and it’s about the release of tension.”
Peele also said the film will be special for another reason. “The lead is a black man, which is already an atypical horror movie. I don’t think it’s been done since People Under the Stairs and Night of the Living Dead.”
QC Entertainment’s Sean McKittrick and Edward H. Hamm Jr. will produce Get Out, along with Jason Blum. Blumhouse’s Couper Samuelson and QC’s Ray Mansfield and Shaun Redick slated to executive produce the thriller.
Williams will continue to star on Girls, the fifth season of which begins on February 21. Creator and star Lena Dunham has said that the sixth season will be the last for TV show about twenty-something girls living in New York City.
