Jordan Peele Awarded The Best Screenplay Of The 21st Century
It's not like Jordan Peele didn't have stiff competition on this list. Just take a look at some of the other entries he was up against.
This article is more than 2 years old
Jordan Peele has quickly risen as one of the best and most promising screenwriters in recent years. So it comes as no surprise that when the Writers Guild of America released their list of 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century that his seminal, breakout film Get Out was at the very top. Of course, this isn’t the first time Peele has made history and achieved a top accolade for his work on Get Out. He nabbed the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2018, making him the first Black writer to win that award. Jordan Peele’s stunning debut was a hit upon its release. The script was a potent combination of horror, unease, and commentary on race relations in America. Get Out also achieved that rare distinction of being both a critical darling and an audience favorite.
It’s not like Jordan Peele didn’t have stiff competition on this list. Just take a look at some of the other entries he was up against. You have The Social Network, a blistering script by Aaron Sorkin that takes a look at the founding of Facebook and gives us a prescient look into our present day. You have indie favorite Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where Jim Carrey shows his dramatic chops in a mind-bending tale of how we handle lost love. There’s the international sensation Parasite which takes a look at classicism through the lens of a struggling family in South Korea. Other writers on this list joining Jordan Peele include the Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan, Tarantino, and much more. In short, it’s easy to see that Peele is in good company here.
One of the things that make this award especially noteworthy is the fact that Get Out is explicitly a horror film. Typically, horror films don’t get a lot of love when they’re up against dramas like There Will Be Blood, Lost in Translation, and Children of Men. Clearly, Jordan Peele’s scathing commentary and whip-smart script have struck a chord for audiences, regardless of the genre it lives in.
Jordan Peele burst into the public consciousness thanks to his collaboration sketch comedy Key and Peele with Keegan-Michael Key, but he’s just getting started as a screenwriter. For his most recent work, you can check out his follow-up film Us which was released in 2019. He also produced Candyman which came out this year. If you can’t get enough of his work, you can also check Peele out as the host of The Twilight Zone reboot, which he also produced.
As far as new writing projects from Jordan Peele, it looks like we’ll have to wait until 2022. Peele just announced his next film, Nope which will reunite him with Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya. Not much is known about this one yet, other than the stars and a mysterious poster depicting a dark cloud. As always, we assume Peele is going to shock and surprise us with his clever, biting, and always relevant style. In the meantime, make sure to revisit Get Out and be reminded of why it deserves its Best Screenplay status!
