Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions Signs Exclusive Deal

Jordan Peele’s 2017 debut mystery thriller, Get Out, won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Us, the follow-up psychological thriller, racked up more than 255.1 million in the nationwide box office. 

So, it should come as no surprise that Universal Studios just announced an exclusive partnership with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions. Jordan Peele, has quickly become one of the industry’s most original voices with both global appeal and the ability to promote on-screen diversity. And he’s achieved all of this in less than three years.

A collaboration of this size is rare for a successful, but new, independent production company and a major studio. The deal will host Peele’s movies for the next five years. Variety reports the deal will cover Peele’s, and Monkeypaw’s President, Win Rosenfield’s upfront and operational costs. According to Complex, the specific numbers have not been revealed, but it’s been assumed the deal is close to nine figures. (nearly a billion dollars). 

According to the press release, Donna Langley, The Universal Group’s chairperson recognizes that Monkeypaw Productions has become one of Hollywood’s most groundbreaking production companies focused on genre-forward films with an emphasis on sharing original stories. Langley explains, “We also share an important goal with Monkeypaw when it comes to increasing representation on-screen in the characters that are portrayed, the stories that are told, and the people who tell them.”  

Says Peele, “It would not have been possible to make Get Out and Us without the endless trust and support we received from Donna Langley and the team at Universal. Their willingness to take risks and their commitment to original content makes them the perfect collaborative partner for Monkeypaw. I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead.”

Currently, Peele and Universal are developing two feature films that Peele will serve as writer, director and producer. Both projects will fall under the new agreement. Additionally, Monkeypaw is also producing a reboot of the 1992’s Candyman which is currently filming in Chicago, Illinois. The adaptation, directed by Nia DeCosta, was written by Peele and Rosenfeld.