Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions has laid off 3 staffers from the development team, TheWrap has learned.
The company will maintain a staff of four. According to the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, “Peele wants to be take a more hands-on involvement in the development of projects.”
Since the 2017 release of his breakout feature debut “Get Out,” which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Peele has become one of the most prolific filmmakers and producers through Monkeypaw, releasing the acclaimed horror films “Us” in 2019 and “Nope” in 2022.
Monkeypaw produced “Him,” which was released last year and bombed at the box office.
In his review of the film, TheWrap’s William Bibbiani wrote, “‘Him’ lacks the fascinating characters, the misdirection, the carefully stretched out suspense, and the thoughtfulness that makes a spider web movie work. You learn about as much from the movie as you do from the trailer, and the trailer is free to watch and saves you a lot of time. Kudos to Marlon Wayans for bringing his A-game, but almost everybody else gives this game away.”
Peele’s next movie as director has been stuck in development hell as the untitled project was initially scheduled to be released in Dec. 2024, but then the project got pushed to 2026, then taken off the schedule entirely. Peele is continuing to develop his follow-up to his 2022 film “Nope,” which will be the fourth of his directorial career. Like his past works, it will be a horror thriller, but plot details are being kept under wraps.
