Jordan Peele opens up about the influence of ‘Akira’ in ‘Nope’
Although horror fans regularly debate whether Jordan Peele is a genius or an overrated hack, his impact on the frameworks of modern horror is undeniable. Through films such as Get Out, Peele changed the language of contemporary horror films while establishing himself as a prominent voice within that world.
During a conversation with Empire, Peele opened up about the influence of the 1988 anime masterpiece Akira, which he once cited as his favourite anime. In fact, Peele paid homage to the cyberpunk gem by Katsuhiro Otomo in his latest directorial effort – Nope.
The director revealed that the motorcycle scene in Nope was inspired by a particular moment in the anime. Peele said: “There are so many ways you can stop a motorcycle. And it was just like, ‘You know what? I could do it a different way, or we could build this rig and do a practical fucking Akira slide.'”
He added: “Ultimately, I felt like if I was going to put that much energy into trying to honour one of the best works of all time, why not put that energy into something of my own?” While referring to the scene, Peele called it “a bit of a punctuation [mark] for myself that I picked the right pathway.”
The filmmaker applauded Special Effects Coordinator – Scott R. Fisher – for pulling off the complicated manoeuvre: “The special-effects guys and our stunt team essentially pull Keke, and she folds over safely as the bike is pulled towards that well. Then we create billowing dust to cover up our tracks a bit and clean up the rest with VFX.”
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