Los Angeles, Jul 25 (IANS): Actor-comedian-filmmaker Jordan Peele's latest science-fiction thriller 'Nope' has topped the US box office with its $44 million debut.

Although the ticket sales were slightly behind projections of $50 million and fall in between the results of Peele's first two films, 2017's 'Get Out' (which opened to $33 million) and 2019's 'Us' (which opened to $71 million), reports 'Variety'.

The film demonstrates the director's popularity at the movies and marks a strong start for an original, R-rated horror film. According to 'Variety', 'Nope' stands as the highest opening weekend tally for an original film since 'Us' debuted more than three years ago. It includes Quentin Tarantino's star-studded 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', which started with $41 million in July 2019.

'Nope' was made on a budget of $68 million, which is significantly more than 'Get Out' (with its slender $4.5 million budget) and 'Us' (with its $20 million budget). So the movie will require a little more coinage than Peele's past films to turn a profit. 'Variety' further states that 'Nope' will not open at the international box office until mid-August.

The film reunites Peele with 'Get Out' star Daniel Kaluuya - and adds Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun to the mix - in the story of siblings who live on a gulch in California and attempt to uncover video evidence of a UFO.