How Universal Studios Hollywood Rebuilt Jupiter’s Claim From Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’ On The Iconic Backlot

Unique is a word that came up more than once when discussing the experience of bringing one of the sets from Jordan Peele’s Nope to the iconic Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood.

“We’ve never done something before where we’ve jumped out into a brand new IP day and date that the movie lands in theaters,” explained Jon Corfino, Universal Creative’s Vice President.

From Friday, July 22, 2022, guests will be able to experience Jupiter’s Claim on the backlot. It’s the fictional theme park featured in the movie set in Southern California’s Santa Clarita Valley and a key location in the film.

“It’s genuinely surreal that you’re in a film that’s on the backlot in that sort of way,” Daniel Kaluuya, Nope‘s lead actor, told me recently. “I never thought I’d get to that place in my life, period, but certainly not being in a movie that is on the backlot before the film has even been released or the reviews are out. It’s a very surreal experience.”

I caught up with Corfino to discuss Peele’s involvement in the project, what made it possible, and what opportunities it offers filmmakers, creatives, and the theme park moving forward.

Simon Thompson: When did discussions start to bring Jupiter’s Claim to the backlot?

Jon Corfino: We started talking a little less than a year ago. We are constantly evaluating everything because a lot is happening all the time. We became aware of Jordan’s film, so we went out and visited with him on the set. It all came together pretty quickly.

Thompson: Being able to add elements of a movie to the Studio Tour when it hasn’t even landed in theaters is pretty rare, right?

Corfino: I think that’s the exciting part, and it really came together. Jordan’s in that realm of many of our other featured attraction directors and writer-directors like Steven Spielberg and War of the Worlds or Robert Zemeckis and Back to the Future. There’s a gravitas that comes with that. We’re really good at bringing through Hollywood’s authenticity because it doesn’t get any more real than this. It is something else to take a set that just got out of production and bring it to life right day and date with the release.

Thompson: Let’s talk about the process. How did it differ from your usual method for attractions such as Jurassic World or War of the Worlds?

Corfino: It’s unique to go out to a set and be there while it’s filming, to partner with Jordan and the production team, and get into the filmmaking process. We were allowed excellent access to help understand the film and figure out how we could do it. Usually, the movie is out, and you can tailor what you want to add from an attraction or backlot basis. Being there in real time was very different and very exciting. Jordan was so welcoming, and when I first went out there and saw him, he got very excited. That got me even more excited. It was one of those times when you think, ‘Oh boy. Don’t we have the coolest jobs in the world?’

Thompson: Creating an attraction from scratch is one challenge. It must be a different kind of challenge to take this from one location, the film set, break it down, and then rebuild it perfectly on the backlot must be a different kind of challenge?

Corfino: Every one of those is going to be a little bit unique, but whenever we build anything on the lot that is specific for the tour, it’s a little bit different than building your standard set. That’s designed to be a temporary structure that will only last for the duration of the filming process. Whenever we make something here that’s going to be close to guests, or we drive through it, we have to actually build it, so that’s a permanent situation. We’re very familiar with that. We were very lucky in this case because where they constructed these sets and their methodology, they were built in a very durable and segmented fashion. I don’t want to say that it made it easy because our team worked very hard to get it done, but it was much better than one might think and just worked out very well for us.

Thompson: What was it most akin to in your previous experiences developing things in the park and as part of the studio tour?

Corfino: We’ve never done something before where we’ve jumped out into a brand new IP day and date that the movie lands in theaters. In every other case, either one film or a series of films preceded it. If you want to go back to Back to the Future, by the time we built that attraction, a couple of movies had already been made. Jupiter’s Claim is unique.

Thompson: When creating an attraction with walls around it, you can keep it quiet and stop prying eyes. Jupiter’s Claim is wide open. You and your team have been building this on the backlot, and it isn’t easy to keep these kinds of things under wraps. How did you manage to do that with this?

Corfino: I don’t know that we were terribly successful at that (laughs). We have parking structures that overlook that area, and we have some pretty excited guests and fans, so I think there’s a fair amount of scuttlebutt out there before we unveiled and opened it.

Thompson: With the project’s success, does this open doors and opportunities for other filmmakers to do things like this in the future?

Corfino: We’re a very large company, and this was really an amalgam of working with our feature film group, the film marketing, Jordan, and our Park Operations teams. We work very closely and consistently with our team internal to NBC Universal. The one thing I would say feels great about this is that because the timing came together, we saw such a tremendous level of partnership and agility across many different groups, which meant this could be executed flawlessly. I don’t get a lot of calls from outside filmmakers, but you never know.

Thompson: I know Jordan has had a chance to sign this off and walk through it. Have any of the other cast and crew had the opportunity to experience this up close? What was their feedback?

Corfino: It’s been phenomenal. Jordan and I enjoyed a moment at a recent press event because he was out there. This was one of the things where it started on his set, and we said, ‘You know, I think we’re going to do this thing,’ so we could sit out there and take it in. You’ve also got to understand that he’s busy making a movie and going through his final edits; his life is hectic and stressful, yet he was still very much a partner in all of this. It was a great moment to look at it and go, ‘Wow, this came together great.’ His production team and some of the talent were out there, and the reaction has been phenomenal. The fans and the people who were there that night, anybody who’s seen it, has just been very excited by it.

Nope is in theaters now.