It’s been a minute since I’ve had written a TFFD but I’ve learnt some new information regarding a highly anticipated film and sadly, might not be the news you want to hear. With less than 2 months to go until Jordan Peele’s Nope releases, the film had an abnormally late test screening and the reactions are somewhat mixed. Let’s break down what I’ve heard from these screenings and theorize how this could affect the film’s delay. As always, treat anything in these articles as rumors as these screening reactions can always vary.

Unfinished VFX

The biggest criticism I heard from the screenings was the extremely unfinished VFX work. Sources tell OTN that the film was very VFX heavy and only one or two scenes had completely finished VFX. This was a major problem as we heard that many members of the test audience felt like they were taken out of the experience. While unfinished VFX is normal during test screenings, having them be this unfinished two months away from release is NOT. This is a bad sign and if they want to keep the July 2022 release date, the crew will be working overtime for the next month and a half to get it done.

Minor Story Problems and Pacing

Another big issue I heard was story problems and pacing. Without spoiling anything, I heard that there’s a character in the film who’s given lots of backstory and when they tried to tie back to it later on in the film, it felt a bit forced. This ties into another issue that I heard about which was that the pacing of the film was all over the place. It started off great in the first act but started to lose it’s momentum by the second act and third act. This can be easily fixed through minor reshoots and editing but it’s still worth noting.

Runtime

Depending on who you talk to, Nope is between 120 and 150 minutes. Compared to Peele’s previous two films Get Out and Us, which are 104 minutes and 116 minutes, respectively. OTN has heard from sources that this was another common issue and that people felt the runtime could be cut down a little bit. This again goes back to the inclusion of the backstory that many people felt was a bit forced.

What Does This Mean For The Film?

While this may not sound good, that’s exactly what these test screenings are for. The crew wants to see what the public thinks of a film and then they go back and fix whatever it is that wasn’t disliked or they add more of what people liked (Which was the case with Black Adam). However, hearing that the movie has very incomplete VFX with less than 2 months until release isn’t a very good sign and doesn’t bode well for the film’s release date. It’s already been delayed by a month in Europe and I expect North America to follow suit. Please don’t read this article and think that the movie’s gonna be bad. I have faith in Jordan Peele and that he’ll deliver a great film in the end.

Nope is currently slated for a July 2022 release. Are you excited for the film? Let us know!

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