It’s been a punchline ever since it was announced: The Emoji Movie was derided as a bad idea when people first heard about it and reviewed as a bad movie once critics actually saw it. But now it turns out there was at least one good thing that inadvertently sprung from the saga of smartphone sprites: it persuaded Jordan Peele that directing was the way to go.
Peele is not above telling a tall tale for the sake of a joke, but he always qualifies that it is: at the LA Film Critics awards, for example, he joked about meeting President Obama, who told him he’d have voted for himself a third time too. But at last night’s DGA awards, via Entertainment Weekly, he told a story that he swears is absolutely true: he was offered the role of Poop in The Emoji Movie. And when he hesitated, it was given to Patrick Stewart instead. His response? “I was like, ‘F— this.’” And decided to quit acting in favor of directing, giving us one of the best movies of the year in Get Out.
Now, while he was joking about his next project–“For what it’s worth, I just signed Garrett Morris and Angela Lansbury to the sequel, Get Out 2: Driving Miss Rosie”–we’d totally go see that. But given his amazing Stan Lee impersonation, and oft-on-TV declared love for a certain action star, we’re also rooting for him to one day make a Marvel movie…starring “Liam Neesons though.”
Does this news make you appreciate The Emoji Movie just a little more? Does it prove every cloud has a silver lining? Leave us an ironic emoji below in comments. Or, y’know, just type something. Up to you.
Image: Sony Animation
Because, emoji!
- A snake that looks like it’s covered in emoji.
- The Little Mermaid as told by emoji.
- Deadpool emoji cookies.
