James Corden Lampoons Us With Copyright-Dodging Late-Night Spoof

Jordan Peele’s chilling Us is a box-office champ In the
U.S. Now, which means that it’s ripe for being parodied.


James Corden did just that, taking to The Late Late Show with a hilarious spoof of Peele’s new horror masterpiece. Teaming up with musical group leader Reggie Watts, the host put on a funny although still reasonably creepy!) Production of “We” — you know, for copyright reasons.


What starts with Corden chatting with Watts about the show and rehearsing for a upcoming production ends up with the pair coming face to face with terrifying visions of, well, themselves – just like in the movie.


"It's us," Watts says, incredulously.


"You mean we," Corden replies, to Watts' insistence that "we" isn't genuine grammar.


"It's a copyright allocate. Just go with it," Corden replies, brandishing a baseball bat because the creepy copies begin coming immediately after them.


The silliness gets a little sinister as soon as Corden tries to emulate star Lupita Nyong’o’s unsettling wide-eyed stare from the movie poster. Watts even does a run toward the camera like the kids in the movie, although falls down as a substitute for comedic effect.


Corden's doppelgänger is clad in a red suit, while the original is wearing a black one. The real Reggie wears a black T-shirt emblazoned with "Real Life," while the other wears a red one with "Horror Parody." The pair move through a couple of bits pulled straight from the movie as they watch their doubles take over their lives, even pausing for a number of minutes to watch their sinister selves on television and laughing at their jokes.


Corden has created a number of horror-centric parodies on his show in the past, from It to A Quiet Place, so taking on Us was the next logical step.


If the parody piqued your interest so you wish to be able to see more, Us is now in theaters, bringing what MTV News' Monica Castillo called a "captivating" story with a "satisfying twist." Peele is also bringing us his vision of The Twilight Zone, which kicks off on April 1 by means of the CBS All Access. We welcome our new horror overlord.