As someone who loves scary movies, I really liked A Quiet Place. The taut thriller marked the directorial debut of The Office alum John Krasinski, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The film brought in $334.5 million globally and is getting Oscar buzz.
Mere weeks after A Quiet Place was released, a sequel was greenlit by Paramount Pictures with a release date of May 15, 2019. Initially, John said he thought the film, which he recently described as a “love letter” to his kids, was a one and done for him and co-star/wife Emily Blunt. It seems he’s had a change of heart.
In an interview with The Independent last month, John said that, “I could totally see myself handing over the reins to someone else,” adding that, “It’s really just about finding the right story.” He went on to state that, “I know Paramount announced it and really want to do one. I really credit them with allowing us to very gently get in the water; it’s really nice of them to do because a lot of places would just make it. We’re really trying to find a story that feels very connected [to the first one].”
He reiterated that during a Q&A at the Silver Screen Theatre in Los Angeles, saying he felt it was a great project for Emily and him. “That was my intention for the movie itself,” but then, “I had this small idea for a sequel, but I didn’t think it would go anywhere. So, I said to the studio, ‘Just go do the movie with somebody else.'”
“They heard some pitches, and I told [producer] Drew [Form] about this little idea. And he told me to think about it a little longer. And then I thought, ‘This might really work.’ So, I’m currently writing the sequel.”
I honestly have mixed feelings about this sequel. I thought the original was a great standalone film, with a solid ending that, as much as I don’t want to admit it, leaves room for a follow-up. That being said, if there’s going to be a sequel, I’m glad John is involved, as he really seems passionate about the project. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
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It’s not his directorial debut.
It’s a much better film than his actual directorial debut though.
It could work if they made major changes to the setting and approach, honestly. A direct sequel may not work – this family’s story is over – but you could easily flip from survival-horror to drama-action using the same tone shift we saw from Alien to Aliens.
(Actually, come to think of it, it would be pretty cool to see the daughter take a primary active role in a different story where she shifted from the protected to a protector. Let her help lead the way to humans reclaiming their world.)
Maybe it would give us the thing that ALIENS HEARTBREAKINGLY NEVA GAVE US!!!
Ripley and Newt…together…fighting!!!!
I would LOVE to see a prequel to this…and THEN see Mama and Daughter team up and kick a– and take names in the next one…
And I like that John’s taking ownership…it’s his Baby…he needs to go on and raise it…
I don’t know how a sequel would work but I imagine he’ll be in some flashbacks.
I think it would be interesting to do a prequel. I think the movie picked up 100ish days into the invasion of the creatures – I’d like to know more about the origin of it all.
A Quiet Place was a good time – despite being the absolute worst movie to buy popcorn for! (Omg – every bite was so loud. I gave up.) I love Danielle’s idea of a prequel – it would be interesting to learn more about what it was like when the aliens arrived, as well as how survivors figured out the link between sound and safety. I wrote a fun rebuttal re: the plot for the first one – there were a few inconsistencies I could not let slip by! (http://movieboozer.com/articles/a-quiet-place-2018-a-rebuttal) But I’d be really curious to see what John K. would do with a follow-up. Plus I’m never sad to see him sporting a beard!
Agree with the writer; loved the first one and was happy a small budget film did so well because of great screenwriting rather than overproduction and lots of gadgets and special effects. They could easily turn this into a three, four movie thing, the “franchise” story arc being humans fight back and defeat them. Also HW has a loose definition of sequel. They could jump a lot of time or go wide as in focus on a character only peripherally related to the original. They probably shouldn’t do the same intimate family story again; that would be too similar. Change it up.