Universal has removed Jordan Peele’s untitled fourth feature from its release calendar, scrubbing the October 23, 2026 date and leaving the filmmaker’s next directing project undated for now. People familiar with the project say Peele remains at work on the film, a horror thriller in keeping with his previous releases, while the studio declined to comment.
The title had already shifted once: after initially being set for December 2024, it was postponed to the 2026 Halloween corridor before being taken off the slate this week. The vacated frame had since been used by Focus Features for Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu,” which went on to gross about $181.7 million worldwide, placing it among the label’s top performers and underscoring the value of the corridor Peele’s film once occupied.
The date change does not signal a cancellation. Industry reporting indicates the movie remains in development with plot details tightly held, consistent with the secretive rollout of Peele’s earlier features. The filmmaker last directed “Nope” in 2022, and has kept an active presence as a producer through Monkeypaw, including championing Dev Patel’s “Monkey Man” to a wide theatrical release.
While the director’s next film awaits a new berth, Universal and Monkeypaw continue to prime the marketplace with “Him,” the sports-horror picture directed by Justin Tipping and produced by Peele, dated for September 19, 2025. Recent marketing has centered on a veteran quarterback mentoring a phenom at an isolated compound before the relationship turns sinister, positioning the movie as the company’s fall genre play ahead of awards season.
Representatives have offered no guidance on when Peele’s fourth feature might land, but the removal suggests the studio is giving the director flexibility to lock script and schedule rather than rushing to preserve a penciled-in weekend. Trade coverage first noted the change, with sources reiterating the project is still moving forward.
