Jordan Peele’s horror film “Get Out” has won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
“Get Out” topped Greta Gerwig for “Lady Bird,” Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor for “The Shape of Water,” Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani for “The Big Sick,” and Martin McDonagh for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
“I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible,” Peele said in his acceptance speech. “But I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie, people would hear it and people would see it.”
Peele, who is the first African-American to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, thanked Universal, Jason Blum, the cast and crew, and his wife and mother.
“To everybody who went and saw this movie, everybody who bought a ticket, who told somebody to buy a ticket — thank you!” Peele said.
Peele’s script centers on a young black man, portrayed by Daniel Kaluuya, who has to deal with an array of strange behavior and supernatural horror at the family home of his white girlfriend. The screenplay has been widely praised for providing a nuanced view of racism in contemporary America.
“Get Out” won the Writers Guild of America’s award on Feb. 11. The film also received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director for Peele, and Best Actor for Kaluuya.
“Get Out” was by far the most successful box office performer in the category for Universal, with more than $250 million in worldwide grosses.
In an emotional acceptance speech at the 2018 Oscars, writer-director Jordan Peele said he nearly stopped scripting his debut feature, Get Out, 20 times, because he thought it was an impossible film to write, and that he wouldn’t be able to get it made even if he did write it. The film, which won Best Original Screenplay, is a racially charged horror story about a black photographer (Daniel Kaluuya) meeting his white girlfriend’s family and uncovering an eerie plot. It’s Peele’s first writing and directing project, and it makes him the first black winner in the category, and only the fourth nominated, after John Singleton, Spike Lee, and Suzanne de Passe.
Peele’s speech was a quick, emotional retelling of how he wrote the script, followed by a list of thank-yous that included “my mother, who taught me to love even in the face of hate,” and every audience member who “shouted out in the theater.” Offstage, Peele was a little less formal.
I just won an Oscar. WTF?!? — Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) March 5, 2018
Best Original Screenplay is generally considered one of the most interesting races at the Academy Awards. In the past, the category has been something of a catch-all for weird, passionate projects, but that’s been radically changing in recent years, in part due to voting rules changes and a diversity membership drive in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite scandal. While in past years, Get Out was exactly the kind of daring, aggressively different, controversial films that might have been limited to the Best Original Screenplay category, this year it was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture, with Daniel Kaluuya up for Best Actor as well.
In the Best Original Screenplay category, Get Out was up against The Big Sick (scripted by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani), Lady Bird (scripted by Greta Gerwig), The Shape of Water (scripted by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor), and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (scripted by Martin McDonagh).
I just won an Oscar. WTF?!? — Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) March 5, 2018
Look how happy Keegan-Michael Key was when Jordan Peele won! #Oscars
(📷: @benwinston) pic.twitter.com/0mWq68nsQL — The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) March 5, 2018
Jordan Peele is the first African American writer to ever win best original screenplay in the history of the #Oscars
*God’s plan starts playing* pic.twitter.com/57E6mT3Ekc — Matthew T'Cherry (@MatthewACherry) March 5, 2018
Remember: Jordan Peele says he quit writing “Get Out” 20 different times.
And then he finished it.
And then he won the Oscar. — Julia Carpenter (@juliaccarpenter) March 5, 2018
My first jump of the night!!! So happy for Get Out!!! — christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 5, 2018
Jordan Peele created a new genre. He deserves this. — Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 5, 2018
Get out!! Yessss — Zendaya (@Zendaya) March 5, 2018
So happy and proud for you @JordanPeele ! Thanks again for the great convo.#Oscars90 — Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) March 5, 2018
Everyone should watch Get Out. I loved the movie so much, and @JordanPeele did an incredible job sculpting a masterpiece of a story in his debut as a director. — Jimmy (@jfwong) March 5, 2018
"I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible. I thought it wasn't going to work. I thought no one would ever make this movie." —@JordanPeele #Oscars pic.twitter.com/R7n7S0h9YA — The A.V. Club (@TheAVClub) March 5, 2018
For the uninitiated, critically acclaimed filmmaker Jordan Peele who bagged nominations for best film and best director at 90th annual Academy Awards this year for his masterpiece Get Out (2017) was a happy man when he walked away with an Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay.The genre-bending horror film explored themes of race, income, and other divisive topics in an unusual, terrifying manner.The movie beat The Big Sick, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to the award.The win also made Jordan the first African-American to ever win an Original Screenplay Oscar. Like a boss.Of course, Peele had tons of support pouring in for his big and deserved win.Peele said he had stopped writing Get Out's screenplay "20 times," skeptical that it would ever get made."But I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone would let me make this movie, that people would hear it and people would see it," said Peele. "So I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie."Here's his Oscars' speech.Chelsea Peretti, Jordan's wife also tweeted attaching a photo of his envelope and Oscar.Apart from the three nominations, the film also earned a nomination for Best Actor for Daniel Kaluuya.
