Entertainment

Jordan Peele’s latest horror film Us scared audiences silly over the weekend — to the tune of over $70 million.

The Oscar winner’s acclaimed follow-up to Get Out exceeded expectations earning an estimated $70.3 million in North America. Industry experts predicted the film would make closer to $45 million this weekend. The film’s production budget was just $20 million, making the film already a hit for Universal.

On top of winning the box office, Us also broke some major records, as Variety reports. It became the biggest debut for an original R-rated film since Mark Wahlberg’s Ted in 2012; and surpassed A Quiet Place for the best opening for an original horror film.

RELATED: Us First Reviews: Jordan Peele’s Get Out Follow-Up Praised as ‘a Horror Masterpiece’

Peele’s last film Get Out launched with $33 million in 2017.

The 40-year-old Oscar winner’s latest provocation centers around a family whose serene vacation turns into a horrifying gamble of life and death when they’re terrorized by a group of eerie doppelgängers. It stars Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss and Winston Duke.

Fans will be happy to know that Peele teased a sequel to the hit film in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“I have a pretty elaborate mythology and history of what’s going on in this film,” he said. “And of course, the dilemma that comes up is how much of that do you tell? When there are questions left, and you know there is more to the story, your imagination is left to run wild.”

Us is now in theaters.

Read more: https://people.com/movies/jordan-peeles-us-breaks-box-office-records/

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Former Chicago Bears player Charles Tillman is facing his fears for a good cause.

The 38-year-old — who played 12 seasons in Chicago and one with the Carolina Panthers — is currently crafting a boat that, come August, he’ll use to row non-stop across Lake Michigan to raise funds for pediatric cancer research and to provide monetary assistance to families of young cancer patients.

“My daughter and so many other kids are challenged to fight for their lives every day,” Tillman tells PEOPLE, “and I wanted to challenge myself to bring awareness to cancer, specifically neuroblastoma.”

Tillman is building the boat in order to keep costs low, which, in turn, will mean more funds for more families in need. The athlete also enlisted the help of Jacob Beckley, who has rowed the 118 miles of Lake Michigan once before — and had never planned to do so again until he was asked by the former NFL player.

And Tillman will need as much help as he can get, since he has never rowed, and doesn’t even like being around large bodies of water.

“Lake Michigan is the perfect obstacle for myself and Jake. It’s not too big but just big enough to challenge,” he says. “I’m not too fond of big bodies of water, especially sharks. Now you say sharks aren’t in lakes but I heard on Shark Week that a bull shark can live in fresh water, so I’m convinced Lake Michigan has bull sharks!”

Beckley is the founder of the Beckley Foundation, which supports research into finding cures for neuroblastoma, while Tillman established the Cornerstone Foundation to focus on the crushing effects childhood illness has on families.

Their event, called “Row 4 Kids,” will take place this coming August, and Tillman and Beckley are accepting donations on their Crowdrise page, with a goal of raising $200,000.

With only a few months to go, Tillman is hard at work — just like during his NFL career — to keep his body in shape.

“For now, I’ve just been lifting weights at Vlad’s gym, my trainer. I also reached out to my roommate from college, Chris, to give me some workouts,” Tillman, who amassed 38 interceptions during his career, says. “As the row gets closer, I’ll be rowing almost daily as well as running and biking to get my cardio up.”

RELATEDRead more: https://people.com/sports/charles-tillman-building-boat-row-across-lake-michigan/